


Faking It

by thatonenerdygeek



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Asshole Jack, BDSM, Coffee Shop Owner Timothy, Eventual Smut, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Maybe sorta love triangle eventually?, Tattoo Artist Jack, Unhealthy Relationships, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 02:20:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7826428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatonenerdygeek/pseuds/thatonenerdygeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys fucked up. Telling his family he was seeing someone when he definitely really wasn't was a huge mistake. So, when his cousin's wedding came up and he needed to actually show up with said someone, what was he supposed to do?</p>
<p>Well, apparently his friend Nisha claimed her ex, 'Jack', was his best option for a fake date. She said he was an asshole but...</p>
<p>How bad could he really be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 'Jack'

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to be another damn Rhack fic but it actually may turn out more Rhysothy? But we'll see how it progresses along the way!
> 
> A slight warning for this chapter and the next, Jack is an asshole. Physically and verbally. But it's canon-assholenes, so eh. 
> 
> My Tumblr (come say hi!)~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~

How the hell did he get himself into this situation? No, he knew how. It was his damn aunt asking him if he was seeing anyone. And the hopeful look on his mother’s face. He didn’t want to break her heart and tell her the truth that no, he definitely wasn’t seeing anyone and definitely didn’t have any plans to see anyone anytime soon.

_”Uh...yeah. Seeing a...pretty cool guy.”_ He had stupidly said. His whole family knew about his sexuality and knew that there was pretty much a 50/50 chance of seeing a girl or a guy. Of course, ‘guy’ was the first thing that came out of his damn mouth. He hadn’t even dated a damn guy before, why the hell did he have to say that? At least if he said ‘girl’, he could easily find someone to pretend to be his girlfriend. Yvette, Sasha, maybe Fiona...not Nisha. No, she’d punch him just for thinking about it. Plus, his parents loathed her. But aside from Timothy and Vaughn, he didn’t have any male friends. And he wasn’t gonna use Vaughn like that, it would be way too awkward. And then Tim just...was too sweet to use like that too.

And so, when his cousin’s wedding came up and he had _no_ choice but to bring the ‘guy that everyone wants to meet’, he turned to the only person he knew could probably help him.

“Okay, so, you’re like, friends with mostly dudes, right?”

“Y...eaaaah?”

“Please find me a fake date, Nish. I’m begging you. I’ll do anything you want for a month.”

His friend perked up at the bribe, a wide grin spreading over her lips. “Anything, huh? Alright, kid. What’s this for?”

“Cousin’s wedding.” Rhys huffed, folding his arms over the bar counter and resting his head over them. “Remember how I was talking about when I stupidly told my family I was seeing someone? Yeah, haven’t really been able to get out of that.”

“When?” The girl beside him began to pull out her phone with one hand, scrolling through her contacts while taking a sip of the amber liquid in her glass.

“This Saturday.” He lifted his head enough to peek over at her phone, eyes widening at the amount of contacts she had. He had...what, less than ten? Nisha was so much more social than he was.

She just nodded at him and continued to scroll, a look of concentration clear on her face. “Axton works on weekends, there’s no way Lilith would let you take Roland, Tim is clearly not your type but...” All of a sudden, that grin was back on her face, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she turned to face him. “What about his brother? You know Jack, right?”

“Not...really.” Rhys frowned. He knew ‘Jack’ and Nisha had dated for a while and Tim never really liked to talk about him and...that was pretty much all he knew. He was Tim’s brother and Nisha’s ex. 

“He’s an asshole. Like, a real asshole. But he can put up a gentleman act if he really needs to. I’m pretty sure he’s not doing anything this weekend so...” Before Rhys knew it, Nisha was calling the guy up and ignoring every one of Rhys’ attempts to stop her. Uh, did he not get a say in this? If he was such an asshole then why the hell would he want to choose him as his fake date? But...if it was his only option....

“’Ey, Jack...yes, I’m in a fucking bar, just listen up. You like dudes, right?...Perfect. You know my friend Rhys? Yeah, the lanky one.” Rhys narrowed his eyes. “He was an idiot and told his family he was seeing someone when he really wasn’t. Now, he has a wedding he needs to go to and doesn’t have said someone to go with. Think you’ll be up to put on that little gentleman act of yours on Saturday? I’ll make it worth your while.” The last part was all but purred out, which made Rhys fake gag and roll his eyes. He turned back to the bar, letting Nisha continue on the conversation while he ordered himself another drink. Did he really have to make him sound like a complete idiot? Yeah, it was stupid of him to lie but it seemed like the best option at the moment.

“Perfect. I’ll text you his address so you guys can meet up and talk about shit.” Rhys nearly spit out his drink right then and there. His address?! What happened to giving out numbers first? 

God, Nisha was gonna be the death of him.

***

Who...the _fuck_ dares to wake Rhys up at 7am? And the day before the wedding, of all fucking days. Has no one ever heard of beauty sleep? Yeah, Rhys needs that shit too.

“I don’t know who the fuck you are but...uh...whoa.” Rhys blinked tiredly as he stared at the person in front of him. Even in his half asleep state, there were a few things that made it very obvious that this guy was _not_ Timothy. One, Tim didn’t have a tattoo around his wrist. Two, Tim didn’t have a that ‘U’ shaped scar on his face. And three, Tim oozed with nervousness and cuteness. _This guy_ just oozed with power and dominance. The way he stood, thumbs tucked into the pockets of his black jeans, chest just subtly puffed out. He was noticeably more broad than Tim was as well, Rhys could tell even under all of those layers. 

And the other big difference was that Tim was cute, especially with those freckles of his. But this guy was...fucking hot. No, _handsome_. This...this must’ve been Jack. And suddenly, Nisha’s choice in his fake date didn’t seem so bad anymore.

“Are you gonna stand there and gawk like a friggin’ idiot or let me in, kid?”

Nevermind, still seemed like a bad choice.

Rhys narrowed his eyes at the handsome man, begrudgingly stepping aside to allow him inside. “Do you understand how early it is?” He hissed as Jack passed him, shutting the door behind him with an audible ‘slam’. But Jack just shrugged at him and plopped himself down on the couch. “Gotta be at the shop in an hour. Are we gonna talk about the stupid wedding shit or are ya gonna yell at me the whole time?”

“The shop?” Rhys’ brows furrowed. It then occurred to him that he really knew absolutely nothing about this man. Ugh, it was too early for this. With a wave of his hand, Rhys gestured Jack to follow him into the kitchen. Coffee. That’s what he needed. That’s what he desperately needed to deal with all of this. 

“Nisha told you absolutely nothin’ about me, did she? Huh. M’a friggin’ tattoo artist. Have been for...shit, 15 years now?” Rhys had to widen his eyes at that. How old was Jack then? Seeing the shocked look on his face, Jack rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna be 40 next month, kid. What, too old for ya? How old...” Jack squinted at him, suddenly leaning in close as Rhys pressed himself back against the counter. Well. _someone_ didn’t have a clue what personal space was. “What...19?”

Rhys couldn’t help but break out into a fit of laughter at that, causing the older man to step back and look at him as if he was going insane. Geez, did he really look that young? Maybe that’s why they always ask him for his ID whenever he goes to a new bar or club. “N-No...” He wheezed, clutching at his chest with his cybernetic hand as he tried to catch his breath and stop laughing. “I-I’m...whoo, okay I’m good. Um, no. I just turned 25.”

“15 year difference, huh? Ya sure your folks will be cool with that?” Oh, they were getting into it already. Rhys blinked and turned to brush past Jack and start brewing a new pot of coffee. “My family doesn’t care about age. My mom is 8 years older than my dad so.” He shrugged, glancing at Jack from over his shoulder. “Thanks for doing this, by the way. I know being a fake date for some random guy isn’t the best way to spend the weekend.”

“I get to fuck my ex if I do it. That’s all I really care about.” God, this guy really was an asshole, Nisha wasn’t kidding. Once the coffee began to brew, Rhys turned back around to face Jack, arms crossed over his chest. “So, where do you wanna start with this?”

“Preferably how I should and shouldn’t act. ‘Cause if I need to act all sweet and shit, I need to prepare myself.”

“Clearly.” Rhys muttered under his breath, but Jack still heard and shot back with a simple ‘I pride myself on being an asshole’. How the hell were he and Tim even related?

“Uh...yeah. Gentleman-like would be good. Or as much as you can manage. Stick with the tattoo artist thing. My cousin, the bride, has a shit ton of tattoos so you’d probably win her over with that. Please don’t mention Nisha, my parents hate her. They love Tim though so, do with that what you will. Let’s go with, uh...oh! Let’s just say that you gave me my tattoo.” Rhys lifted a flesh hand to tap at the black ink on his neck. “And then you gave me your number afterwards or something like that. Honestly, you can just say whatever regarding us meeting, I’ll roll with anything. And I guess just...wear something nice? It’s on the beach so it doesn’t have to be too formal. A dress-shirt and nice pants should be fine. Just not...this.” He gestured towards Jack’s black leather jacket and worn white t-shirt. He looked like a goddamn greaser, especially with his hair slicked back like that. Is it bad that Rhys found that kinda hot? No. Bad Rhys. No.

Jack looked down at his outfit, feigning offense. “I don’t see how this is _not_ wedding material.” Okay, Rhys had to chuckle at that. The guy had a sense of humor, he’d give him that. Good sense of humor, pretty damn hot, definitely on the older side...Jack was pretty much perfect if him being an asshole wasn’t so glaringly obvious. 

“Is that it? I’d love to lie and say I’d like to stay and chat more but I really don’t.” There was a completely uninterested look on Jack’s face as he pulled his sunglasses down from the top of his head to settle over the bridge of his nose. 

“Uh...” Rhys stared at the older man for a moment, then glanced toward the coffee he already started making, having thought the conversation would last a lot longer than it apparently did. “The wedding is at...6pm so...”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll pick you up at 5 or some shit. We’ll go through last minute details on the way there. Now, I’m gonna go get my tired ass some coffee so I don’t stab anyone.” Jack didn’t even wave as he turned on his heel to leave, leaving Rhys to just stare at his coffee maker in confusion. But he was...already making...coffee? 

Fuck, this guy was such an asshole. How in the hell was he gonna do this tomorrow?

***

“Okay but seriously, bro. He’s an absolute _dick_. I mean, he’s fucking hot, I can’t deny that and I will never let Tim know I think that. But seriously, dick. Like, straight up fuckboy. One, he only did this because Nisha promised to bang him again.”

“Ew.”

“Right? Anyway, then he has this charming ass smile and _everything_ about him is charming and handsome but his fucking attitude is shit. Pretty sure the dude hasn’t had an actual relationship like...ever. Even the whole thing with Nisha seemed to just be based off of sex. I’d be surprised if anyone actually dated him seriously and not just for sex. I wonder if he’s good in bed.”

“Wonder all you want, I’m sure Tim would kill you if you slept with his brother.”

“Probably.” Rhys scrunched his nose up as he pushed his comb through his slicked back hair. “It’s so weird though. He looks so much like Tim but he’s the complete opposite in every single way. Like, the guy has to have a total power kink. Even when he’s standing casually, it’s like he owns the whole damn place. Kinda hot, actually.”

“Are you sure _you’re_ not the one with the power kink?” His friend mused over the phone, earning a dramatic eye roll from the lanky man.

“Okay, I may. Shut up. The point _is_...well...I-I don’t remember what my point was.” He pouted at himself in the mirror, hands coming up to button up his navy blue dress shirt. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m probably either gonna get murdered tonight or fucked into next week. Or beaten to death. Oh god, I’m gonna die.” Whining out, Rhys brought his head forward to drop against the mirror.

He could’ve sworn he heard Vaughn snickering at his freak out. The asshole. “You’re gonna be fine, bro. Nisha is your friend, she wouldn’t have picked Jack if she thought he would kill you.” That didn’t really make Rhys feel any better. Nisha was the kind of chick that would run head first into danger without even caring. Her judgement wasn’t really one to be trusted. 

“If I die, write something awesome on my headstone, okay? Like, ‘best bro in the universe’ or something like that.” The two men laughed at that, Vaughn promising to do so while Rhys grinned at himself in the mirror. Being able to joke around like that eased his nerves. At least long enough to allow him to continue getting ready, keeping the first couple buttons of his shirt undone and tucking the hem into his black dress pants. He had to admit, he looked pretty damn hot. Now, he looked a lot less nerdy and a lot more fuckable. Not that he was...going for that look...or anything. Pfft, no. 

“So-” Rhys was cut off by the sound of the doorbell echoing off of the walls. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. He couldn’t back out now. This was it. He caught his own wide eyed, ‘deer caught in headlights’ look in the mirror and willed himself to relax. “He’s here. Gotta go, bro. I’ll call you when I get home, okay?” Vaughn was only able to respond with an ‘okay, bro’ before Rhys ended the call and tucked his phone into his pocket, shutting the light off in the bathroom and rushing out into the living room.

And fuck, the guy before him was even hotter than he had been yesterday.

Jack was handsomely dressed in a black button down shirt, similar to Rhys’ in style but with an extra button left undone, exposing just enough of his chest to make him fantasize about what the rest looked like underneath. _Snap out of it, Rhys, he could fucking kill you._ He also wore almost identical black slacks, though with the addition of an...oddly yellow colored belt. Rhys couldn’t help but grimace at that. He could deal with it though, it was just one little detail that he could overlook if he tried hard enough...it was just so _yellow_ though.

“Can’t tell if you’re starin’ at my belt or my friggin’ crotch, kid.” Rhys blinked, suddenly realizing that yes, he was pretty much staring directly at the other man’s crotch. He attempted to clear his throat and brush the whole thing off but Jack just watched him with an arch of his brow, expecting some sort of explanation. 

“Why is it so yellow?” Rhys practically whined after a long hesitation, pointing towards the offensive belt with a metal finger. The comment actually made Jack frown, looking down at said belt in genuine confusion. 

“You’re being dramatic, it’s a friggin’ belt. And I might as well have some sort of pop of color, right?”

“Okay, but _yellow_? Gold is fine. Hell, anything is fine but _that_ fucking shade of yellow.”

“You know, I don’t really expect that kind of language to come out of a lanky twink like you.”

Rhys had to grip onto the sides of the doorframe to keep himself from actually _lunging_ himself at the asshole. He’s been called many things regarding his looks before. ‘Cyborg’, ‘pretty boy’, ‘giraffe’ but _’twink’_ was a new one. And for some reason, it fucking enraged him. Oh, he was gonna make sure that Jack knew this _twink_ could fight back. And hard.

Wait, no, shit, that sounded really sexual.

“We don’t have time for you to stand there and insult me. So, shut the fuck up, put on that gentleman act of yours and _move_.” Rhys hissed, already feeling like he was close to his breaking point with this jerk and they’ve barely even spoken to each other. Now he understood why Tim never talked about his older brother.

All of a sudden, Jack was closing the space between him. A large hand gripped his jaw in a near bruising hold that Rhys could only hope didn’t actually bruise. He really didn’t feel like trying to come up with an excuse for that one. Then, Jack leaned in, to the point where their noses were almost touching and way too close for comfort. “I suggest you lose that ‘badass’ façade and be a good little submissive boy tonight. Unless ya really wanna explain to your family why you’re littered with blood and bruises.” Rhys’ heart was going a million miles a minute once the man was done growling at him. His adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. As much as he could with the hold on his jaw, he gave the man a short nod, cursing the pathetic whimper that followed.

“Good.” Jack gave a firm pat to his cheek before straightening up. And in a split second, that terrifying look of murder on his face faded and was replaced by a charming smile. One hand went to his hip, elbow pushed out to leave a space between his arm and side. “We have a wedding to catch, pumpkin.”

Not wanting to aggravate the man again, Rhys obeyed in an instant, his arm hooking around Jack’s and allowing him to lead him to his...bike? He rode a fucking motorcycle and his hair still looked that perfect? Even with a helm...oh. No helmets. Can’t say it was too surprising that Jack didn’t really care about safety. Rhys just hoped the gel in his hair would make it stay put throughout the ride to the beach. 

Rhys threw one numb leg over the back of the bike after Jack had settled himself on the seat. He hesitated for a moment before his slim arms wrapped around Jack’s midsection, trying not to clutch onto him for dear life when he realized that yeah, no helmets were gonna be used whatsoever. And he would rather not die by getting thrown off a motorcycle and splitting his skull in two.

But the panic about the helmet issue didn’t seem to last long. All he could think about was whatever the hell happened back there. He knew the guy was a complete douchebag. And he knew he had joked with Vaughn about getting murdered but he didn’t think it could actually happen. The guy made threatening seem like a second language to him. Rhys’ blood had run cold just hearing those threats. He actually started to fear for his life for a moment and he still did, to an extent. It was frightening. 

But the damn traitorous, semi-hard erection in his pants clearly felt otherwise.


	2. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys felt foolish thinking that the wedding would turn out better than it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was while I was writing this chapter that I was thinking 'Wait, this is supposed to be Rhack, what's going on what am I doing' but hey, a little love triangle and a ton of angst never hurt anyone, right?
> 
> I know it may seem like things are moving a bit fast in this chapter relationships wise but I promise, I have no plans for any kind of smut for another good few chapters. But there will be smut! Y'know, eventually.
> 
> My Tumblr (come say hi!) ~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~

“Oh, sweetheart, is this your boyfriend? ”

“Ah...yes, mama. This is Jack, Tim’s older brother.”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” 

Rhys had to fight back a dramatic eye roll at the voice Jack had begun to use, so sweet and dripping with honey. Ugh, if only his family knew the asshole was threatening to beat the shit out of him earlier. But despite his annoyance at the complete change in personality, Rhys kept up his own little act, a faux love-stricken smile spreading over his lips as he glanced between Jack and his mother. “I know he’s a bit...older, than you would’ve expected.”

“Honey, I’m just happy that you’re not dating that Nisha girl. She’s a bad influence on you, you know.” Rhys’ fingers curled inward, blunt nails biting into Jack’s lower back when he saw his sweet and calm demeanor fading at the mention of Nisha. Thankfully, his mother didn’t go on any further regarding her. “How did you two meet? The wedding doesn’t start for another half hour so feel free to go into detail.” She just grinned at Rhys and he gave an awkward smile in return. Of course she would want details. And he was about to open his mouth to begin before Jack took over in an instant.

“Well, I’m a tattoo artist. Have been for about 15 years now. Rhysie here,” He fought the urge to cringe at the nickname. “came in to get this baby done.” Jack’s arm suddenly moved from around Rhys’ waist, instead curling his hand around the back of his neck and stroking the black ink on the side with his thumb. Rhys would have leaned into the seemingly tender gesture if it weren’t for Jack’s firm hold on his neck. Even when trying to put on the ‘sweet gentleman’ act, Jack still made sure to assert his dominance with him. “Damn kid could barely handle it though. Had to take at least a dozen breaks before it was finally finished.” Oh, Rhys just wanted to smack that grin off of his face.

“Really? Rhys said he barely felt it at all.” Shit. His mother looked at him in slight confusion. But before he could worry about their plan already going to shit, Jack came up with a smooth yet...still embarrassing response. “Did he?   
I’m not surprised. He’s always trying to act tougher than he really is.” Jack shot him a shit-eating grin and Rhys willed himself to keep on with the act. His elbow shot out, nudging Jack’s side maybe a tad bit too rough but he was beyond caring at this point.

“Come on, I wasn’t _that_ bad. He still gave me his number afterwards, so I clearly didn’t make that much of a fool out of myself.” For a split second, Jack’s jaw clenched, most likely due to the rough elbowing. But the look was gone as soon as it started, heterochromatic eyes going back to Rhys’ mother. “I thought he would never actually call, judging by how shy he was around me. But he did after a few weeks and here we are now.” The hand on the back of his neck lifted to slide his thick fingers through Rhys’ slick hair. Rhys found himself almost enjoying the sensation. That was, until his mother looked away when her name was called and Jack took that opportunity to tug his head back with a low hiss.

“I’m so sick of you already.” Rhys narrowed his eyes at the older man beside him, his voice low and for Jack’s ears only. “That makes two of us, asshole.” He sneered. But as soon as his mother turned back around, Jack’s hold on his hair loosened and the two of them put their fake smiles back on. The wedding hadn’t even started yet and Rhys already knew it was going to be hell. God, he needed a drink.

“So,” His mother started, ushering the two of them over towards the rest of the group of family. “Where did you two go for your first date?”

“Bar.”

“Dinner.”

“Both, actually. I took him out to dinner first and then we settled down at the bar across from my shop.” He may absolutely loathe the asshole, but Rhys did have to thank him for saving their asses twice now. “The kid ended up drinking way too much and I had to carry him into his apartment. Haven’t let him near alcohol ever since.” Jack snickered and Rhys just attempted to roll his eyes without seeming truly annoyed. While inside, it was just, _Fuck you, asshole. Fuck you, asshole. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you._

Meeting the rest of the family wasn’t any easier. The two of them continued to make small slip ups, but they always easily recovered from them. His mother seemed to be the first to officially ‘approve’ of Jack, then his father and the others followed shortly after. As expected, his cousin just loved the fact that his ‘boyfriend’ was a tattoo artist and started having a deep conversation about tattoos while her new husband was busy taking wedding pictures with the groomsmen. Rhys took that perfect opportunity to excuse himself and head out to the water. He had absolutely no patience for Jack anymore. That asshole knew exactly which buttons to push and he pushed them _hard_. 

Rhys stopped just a few feet away from the water, kneeling down to half-heartedly dig his fingers through the sand for shells. He was gonna kill Nisha when he saw her next. He would have been so much happier if he had just taken Tim instead. Tim and Jack were such polar opposites, it was insane. Maybe he could have Tim over tomorrow to rant about how absolutely terrible his brother was. That was...if he made it out of this alive. Jack could easily kill him, just judging by what he’s been doing so far. And Rhys wouldn’t put it past him to actually do it.

Out of frustration, he picked up the closest shell he could find and tossed it at the water with a loud yell. Thankfully, he was far enough from the actual wedding area for them to hear. He doubted anyone would be able to hear him over the music and chatter anyway. Fuck, how could he have fucked up so bad? He should have never gone to Nisha for help. He should have just told his family the truth and dealt with their disappointment in him. But he didn’t. Instead, Rhys got to deal with this douchebag and the fear of getting brutally murdered at the end of the night. 

“The shells didn’t do shit to ya, kid.”

Rhys’ body tensed in an instant, the deep voice behind him completely chilling him to the bone. He hated how his body reacted in fear to just his voice. Yet the dick between his legs reacted in complete excitement. How could he possibly be this fucked up?

“I’m friggin’ talkin’ to ya, twink.” Oh, that was the last fucking straw. Rhys was back on his feet in an instant, spinning around and shoving at Jack’s chest. The man stumbled back and nearly fell back onto his ass before he regained his balance, staring at Rhys incredulously. That look only lasted for a moment though, before his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Rhys didn’t even get time to react before he was grabbed by the throat and pulled up, the tips of his boots just barely touching the ground. Struggling to gasp for air, his hands came up, cybernetic hand wrapping around Jack’s wrist while his flesh hand clawed at the skin.

“Why do you insist on pissing me off? Huh?” The grip on his throat tightened, pressing down on his windpipe to the point where he couldn’t even get in a single breath. “It’s like you’re just begging for me to snap your friggin’ neck. You’re lucky I can’t beat the shit out of you in public.” The older man growled. All Rhys could do was mouth ‘please’ over and over again, the edges of his vision beginning to grow dark as spots dance in his eyes. But just as he was about to accept his sudden death, Jack just smirked down at him and took a few steps forward. Suddenly, he hit the ground with a loud gasp, the air burning his lungs as he tried to swallow as much of it as possible. 

But instead of swallowing air, he was met with a mouthful of pure saltwater. It was then - as he was sputtering and coughing violently - that he realized where Jack had dropped him. Right in the _fucking_ freezing cold water. That fucking asshole. He tried to sit up to keep the water from getting into his mouth, but Jack stepped toward him and placed a heavy boot in the center of his chest, keeping him pinned down in the sand. 

“ _Jack_.” Rhys whimpered out, soaking wet head lifting up in a desperate attempt to stay at least partially out of the water. “Please, I-I’ll be good, just don’t...d-don’t do this. Nisha won’t live up to her promise if you hurt her best friend.” He wasn’t entirely sure if that was true or not. He would hope that Nisha would kick Jack’s ass for hurting him but...Rhys never really knew what to expect with her.

The comment seemed to make Jack hesitate though, the pressure on his chest lifting just enough for Rhys to squirm away and scramble back onto his feet. Fuck, he was absolutely _soaked_. There was no way he could continue with the wedding like this. Not that there was much else to do anyway though. The ceremony was over, he had already done his pictures and the reception was going to be over in less than an hour. 

“Take me home.” The younger man whispered, arms wrapping around himself in hopes to warm himself at least a little bit. He was shivering, clutching at himself and soaked from head to toe. He really didn’t want to know how pathetic he looked. _Like a fucking lost, scared puppy_ , he thought. When Jack didn’t move, however, he narrowed his eyes. “If we leave now, I won’t tell Nisha about all the shit you did to me.” That seemed to do it.

Jack rolled his eyes at the man and reached out to grab Rhys’ cybernetic arm, making him flinch just from the contact. Jack was completely unpredictable now. How was he supposed to know if he was gonna get thrown around or just pulled off of the beach? 

He just hopes he’ll never have to see this guy again after this.

***

“Get off.”

Rhys glowers at the asshole in front of him but complies, trying his best to ignore the awkward sound of his wet clothes rubbing against the leather seat of the motorcycle. He doesn’t even get a chance to say an awkward goodbye before Jack is already taking off down the street, leaving Rhys to stand on the sidewalk in shock.

They had thankfully avoided his family when they went back to Jack’s bike to go back to Rhys’ apartment. He really...really didn’t want to try to explain what the hell had happened. Hell, there was no way he could have explained it anyway. He would have had to come up with some bullshit lie. 

Rhys was getting really fucking tired of lying.

He wasn’t even inside his apartment for 5 minutes before he was sinking down onto the bathroom floor, wet knees pressed up against his chest as he sobbed into them. What was causing him to break down...he didn’t really know. It could have been anything. The general shitty feeling in his chest, the fact that he lied to his _whole_ family or...the fact that he had just been tossed around like a ragdoll and constantly insulted all night. Usually, he could deal with insults and a bit of bullshit. But this asshole had just torn him down completely. Physically, emotionally, he was just exhausted. Just...done.

Yet the one person he desperately wanted to call - and thankfully his phone hadn’t been too harmed by the water - was...

“T-Tim? I-I’ll explain when or...if you get here but...I really, _really_ need you right now.” Rhys sniffled, rubbing the back of his flesh hand against his eyes.

“I’m a little busy right now but...I’ll be there as soon as I’m free, Rhys. Are you...are you okay? What happened?” The genuine concern in his voice made Rhys’ heart swell just a little bit. He sounded exactly like Jack but...he actually cared.

“No.” Rhys admitted with a bitter smile, using his free hand to push himself back up onto his feet and look into the mirror in front of him. Finger shaped bruises littered his throat. His hair was completely flattened and hanging over his face, still damp. His eyes were red and bloodshot and he just looked...brutal. “I’m really not. Just...get here as soon as you can, okay? Let’s have a sleepover or something.” Rhys knew he probably sounded really needy at this point. But the truth was, he _was_ needy. He needed Tim with him to comfort him. To somehow show that everything was okay.

There was a minute of rustling on the other line, followed by the familiar jangle of Tim’s keys before he spoke up again. “Okay, I’m on my way right now...what?” Despite clearly having attempted to cover the phone, Rhys could still hear the conversation on the other end. 

“ _Who is that_?”

“Rhys.”

“ _Why the hell are you talkin’ to him_?”

“He...I don’t friggin’ know, Jack. It sounds like something’s wrong and I need to go make sure he’s okay. Look, you’re here now, you can take care of your own damn daughter for once so I can go take care of my goddamn friend.” 

“ _You little-_.” Jack’s angry voice was cut off by the slam of a door, the sound of heavy boots practically running down the staircase. 

“I’ll be there in like, 5 minutes, okay?”

“I owe you, Tim.”

“You don’t owe me anything, kiddo.”

It took a couple minutes after their conversation ended to realize one very important detail. Jack had a _daughter_. How could someone so terrible have a daughter? Suddenly, Rhys was feeling bad for the poor girl. He didn’t even spend 24 hours with the man and he was already absolutely done with him. He couldn’t imagine how in the world a young child would be able to deal with him.

Rhys was barely able to get himself at least a little more presentable before the doorbell rang. Well, he was still in his wet clothes but at least he fixed his hair a bit, right? Eh, it’s not like Tim would care. They’ve had too many sleepovers to even count anymore. Which meant that he saw Rhys at his absolute worst in the mornings.

But fuck, the second he saw Tim standing in front of him, looking so...so much like Jack...he broke down again. His damp arms flung around the slightly taller man and just _clung_. It clearly caught Tim off guard, seeming unsure what to do with his hands before they eventually wrapped around Rhys’ trembling body. The older man stepped forward, slowly guiding Rhys back into the apartment and shutting the door behind him.

“Tell me what happened, kiddo.” Rhys felt lips press to the top of his head and he let out a shaky breath, wanting nothing more than to just bury himself into Tim’s chest and forget about the world for the rest of the night. But he knew Tim was too worried about him to just brush it aside. Reluctantly, his arms dropped from around his neck, his flesh hand wrapping around Tim’s wrist and pulling him over to the couch. The two fell back into the cushions, Rhys automatically curling up into Tim’s warm body. Fuck, wet clothes made him really cold.

“Did you, um...know where...Jack went today?” Rhys was hesitant. With how it sounded on the phone, it didn’t seem like Tim actually knew that Jack was his fake date to the wedding. The shake of his head just confirmed his suspicion. “Jack...okay. You know how I was whining a while ago because I told my family I was seeing someone when I really wasn’t? Well, when the wedding came up, everyone wanted to meet this mystery dude and I kinda...had Nisha, um...find someone to be my fake date.”

There was an almost eerie silence between them. It made Rhys shift uncomfortably, mismatched eyes flickering up to try to judge Tim’s facial expressions. His heterochromatic eyes were narrowed, seemingly glaring at nothing. And then the hand that had settled on Rhys’ shoulder tightened, gripping onto the clothed flesh.

“I’m gonna fucking kill her. I’m gonna kill both of them, what the hell did he do to you?” Tim was suddenly scooting back, keeping Rhys at arm’s length to look him up and down. Rhys swallowed thickly and dropped his eyes to his lap when he felt an intense gaze on his bruised throat. “What the hell did he do to you?” The words were repeated, but now whispered out, a large hand hesitantly raising to brush his fingertips against the marks. Rhys instinctively flinched at the contact, making Tim jerk his hand away with a guilty look on his face.

“So, he... _choked_ you and then...” His eyes swept over Rhys’ damp clothes, a deep frown on his lips.

“Um...d-dropped me into the water. It’s a long story, I just...I get why you never talk about him now.” Rhys tried to offer a believable smile but Tim saw through him way too easily. He just shook his head and pulled Rhys back into his arms, not really seeming to care about getting his own clothes wet. “I’m so sorry, Rhys. If I had known...god, I wouldn’t have let him come anywhere near you. Why didn’t you just ask me? You know I would’ve helped you out in a heartbeat.”

“Nisha said you weren’t my type. Which is far from true anyway but-” Rhys blinked and inwardly swore at himself for adding that last part. But before he could give Tim the chance to react, he continued on. “I just don’t know. I was desperate. I knew Jack was an asshole but I didn’t know I’d literally be fearing for my life.” He mumbled, head tucking under Tim’s chin comfortably. He was usually pretty close with his friend. There were multiple times where they were both curled up on the couch watching TV and ended up falling asleep on each other. But there was something different about it this time. Tim was holding him as if Rhys would suddenly disappear. And he couldn’t even begin to describe how safe that made him feel.

Tim didn’t seem to know what to say aside from a quiet ‘I know’, as if he wasn’t entirely surprised Rhys had actually feared for his life with Jack. How often did stuff like this happen? No, he didn’t want to know that. All he wanted was to forget about everything that had happened today and cling to Tim like his life depended on it. But it wasn’t long before Tim’s mere presence was able to calm him down. At least enough to text Vaughn with a simple ‘im ok. see u tomorrow bro <3’. The last thing he needed right now was having Vaughn completely worried about him too. 

“Look,” Tim started once Rhys set his phone down, jerking his head back towards the hallway. “how about you go change, shower, do whatever you need to do and I’ll order us some pizza, okay? We can watch game shows and see how many questions you get wrong.” Rhys couldn’t help but grin at that. Then he nodded and gave Tim a tight hug as a silent ‘thank you’ for coming before reluctantly pushing himself up from the couch and shuffling down the hall to his room.

***

Tim watched as Rhys headed for his room, a pained look on his face. Rhys was the last person that deserved any of this shit. Now he understood why Jack reacted the way he did to him talking to Rhys. He didn’t want him knowing about the shit he did. Fuck, he was gonna kill Jack when he got home. 

This wasn’t the first time it’s happened. Jack has always had violent tendencies. The last time it had happened was with Nisha but he hadn’t found out about it until a month later. It was the whole reason why they had broken up in the first place. So, why the hell was she sitting there thinking that _Jack_ was the best choice for Rhys? Oh, he was gonna give her a piece of his fucking mind.

Before he knew what he was doing, he was dialing Nisha’s number, his hands trembling with rage. Usually, he would yell at Jack for a bit before dropping it and never bringing it up again. But when this happens to Rhys, his _best friend_? No, he wouldn’t allow it.

“’Ey, Timmy. You know, I was just about to call ya and see if you wanted to head to that new bar that opened up. How ‘bout it?”

“You fucking bitch.” Tim growled. His eyes squeezed shut, breathing deeply through his nose. No, he had to calm down. He wasn’t going to be like Jack. He wasn’t going to be like that. “Sorry, Nish, just...why? Of all people, why put _Rhys_ through this?”

There was complete silence on the other end for a moment before he heard her sigh. “You found out.”

“Damn right I found out.” He sunk back into the couch, glaring off at the wall as his free hand clenched on his lap. “I can’t even begin to explain how utterly _broken_ Rhys looks right now. That asshole friggin’ choked him and dropped him in the water. He kept flinching whenever I tried to touch the bruises on his throat, I...shit, why the hell didn’t you just ask me? You know I would’ve done it in a heartbeat, especially if it meant keeping Rhys away from _him_.”

“Look, I didn’t know Jack would do that kind of shit, okay? I’m just as pissed off as you are but-”

“You didn’t _know_? Nish, you know his history, you two broke up because he friggin’ choked you unconscious. How could you not have known he would do this? Rhys could have been...no, he _was_ in danger tonight. How could you?”

“I’m sorry, Tim.” She did sound genuine, and that allowed Tim to relax at least a little bit. “Is he...okay?”

Tim glanced back down the hall, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. “Physically? Yeah, he’s fine, just cold from being dumped in the ocean. But emotionally, I just...I dunno. Right now, no. But hopefully...hopefully he’ll be okay. If not, I’m gonna give my brother hell.”

Nisha snorted. “Not if I get to him first. Hey, I gotta go, ‘kay? Whether you’re coming or not, I’m going to that damn bar and getting hammered. Take care of the kid, okay? And tell him I’m sorry.”

“I will. Have fun, Nish.” And with that, the phone call ended, leaving Tim feeling at least a bit better about the whole situation. He had been worried that Nisha would just brush it all under the rug and he was glad she seemed to feel the same way he did. Granted, that really didn’t change the fact that it was _her_ fault to begin with. 

While Rhys was busy - most likely showering - in his room, Tim made himself busy by ordering the pizza and straightening up Rhys’ apartment. Obviously, he didn’t have to. But it was something he always did when he would visit. The kid never seemed to like cleaning up that much, which made the neat freak in Tim go crazy. If he was going to be staying the night, he might as well help out a bit. Even if it was just for his own sake. Rhys hasn’t complained about it yet though so hey, maybe the neat freak in him comes in handy sometimes?

***

Three episodes of Jeopardy, a whole box of pizza and a couple beers later, Rhys was quickly starting to fall asleep. But he didn’t want to. Even after all the shit he went through at the wedding, he didn’t want to go to sleep and forget about it all. Why?

Because Tim was beside him. And he wanted to savor this moment for as long as he could. 

Maybe it was the beer...maybe it was because he hadn’t gotten a decent night’s sleep in a while but Tim was slowly looking more and more...attractive? It probably wasn’t that big of a surprise, considering he found Jack attractive right off the bat. But with Jack, it was just on the outside. Tim was attractive in every way. From the faint dusting of freckles on his face to the way he toyed with Rhys’ now dry hair while focusing on the show. Nothing about Jack was gentle. But everything about Tim was and he...kind of liked it. Tim had his moments, of course. Like earlier when he found out what Jack had done. Rhys had never seen the older man so enraged before, in the 5 years they had known each other. And that anger was because Jack hurt Rhys. It made him feel almost...loved, in a way. 

“Hey, Tim?” Rhys murmured into the man’s shoulder, to which Tim turned his head to stare down at him with a warm smile. Oh, Rhys really liked that smile. “Thank you...for coming. You have no idea how much this helped.”

“You don’t need to thank me, kid. Oh, and I already yelled at Nisha earlier. But she’s on team ‘kick Jack’s ass’ too. She said she’s sorry.” Those fingers were in his hair once more. Jack would have been pulling it and making Rhys whimper in pain. But Tim just ran his fingers through the dark locks, gently working out any small knots from Rhys not combing it out after taking a shower. He barely even heard what Tim had told him. He didn’t even really know what _he_ was doing. He just wanted...ugh, he just wanted to...

“What’re you-” Tim’s confused voice was cut off by Rhys leaning in, soft lips pressing against the older man’s. It was quick, barely even a couple seconds before Rhys ducked his head to hide it against Tim’s shoulder. Tim had stiffened when Rhys put his lips on his, but relaxed once Rhys curled up against him, flesh and robotic fingers curling into the man’s grey top. He could already feel his cheeks beginning to heat up in embarrassment, but he was far too tired to even care. Sleep...sleep sounded really good. 

The last thing he remembered thinking was yeah...that was a _really_ nice kiss.


	3. Belated Birthday Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tim and Rhys try to deal with whatever the hell 'feelings' are and some weird thing called 'control'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how much your comments make my day. I haven't been so deep into a fic since A Second Chance and agh, I just love seeing the reactions. You're all so wonderful and thank you for following this trainwreck of a story <3
> 
> So, have some fluff and a tiny bit of angst because the next chapter will be angst city. 
> 
> My Tumblr (come say hi!) ~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~

The first thing Rhys saw when he woke up was bright light. Like. Way too bright. Why the hell were his curtains open? Ugh. He rolled over onto his stomach with a loud groan, burying his face into his pillow to block out the sun and hopefully go back to sleep. Yes, if the sun was out, _technically_ he should be getting up. But sleep. Sleep was nice. He didn’t have to feel like he needed to do anything productive if he was asleep. 

Wait, how did he get in bed?

Confused, Rhys pushed himself up onto his forearms, looking around his room with sleepy eyes. He was definitely in bed but how the hell did he get there? The last thing he remembered was thanking Tim for coming and then...

“Oh god.” Rhys’ eyes widened in an instant, jolting up into a seated position with his flesh hand sealed over his mouth. He had...he...he _kissed_ his best friend. What the hell was wrong with him? Oh god, Tim was never gonna forgive him. Why the hell did he even do that? Maybe he really shouldn’t be trusted with alcohol, even just beer. Or maybe it was because he was so tired. Either way, he just wasn’t thinking straight, clearly. 

It _was_ a nice kiss though.

Rhys soon found himself grinning and quickly shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek to keep the grin down. He was so fucked up. Not only was Tim his best friend. But he looked almost identical to the asshole that made his life a living hell yesterday. Yet he’s sitting here thinking about kissing him? Vaughn would never let him live this down. And Nisha sure as hell wouldn’t either. Hell, even Tim will probably tease him about it. That is, if he wasn’t too mad.

Furrowing his brows, Rhys looked around his room again. During their sleepovers, Tim would either sleep on the couch in his room or make himself comfortable on the floor. But he wasn’t anywhere to be seen now. Maybe he had already gone to the shop? A quick glance at the clock showed that Tim wasn’t due to open up the shop for another hour. Maybe...fuck, maybe he left already because of last night? Ugh, he was so fucking stupid. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ , fucking stu-

“Why are you...hitting your head on the...wall?” From the corner of his bright blue eye, he saw Tim standing in the doorway, eyebrows all the way up to his forehead. Oh...he, uh...he hadn’t...left. 

Oh.

“I, uh...” Rhys let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his neck with his flesh hand. “Just, uh...waking myself up. Yep, that-that’s it. Yep.” He turned to see Tim still staring at him, now more amused than anything. 

“Uh huh. Well. when you’re done waking yourself up, come eat your belated birthday breakfast.” When Tim left the room with a gesture of his hand, Rhys ducked his head with a shy smile. It had been tradition. The first year they were friends, Tim had come over to drop of Rhys’ birthday gift the morning of his 20th birthday. He was...definitely disgusted to see that Rhys was just eating frozen waffles at the table.

_”What...is _that_?” Tim pointed a finger at the offensive waffles. Meanwhile, Rhys glanced between the waffles and the disgusted look on Tim’s face, not entirely understanding what the big deal was. “Uh...waffles?”_

_“Are those friggin’ Eggo waffles? On your birthday? Seriously?” Tim just shook his head at the younger man and set the wrapped up gift on the table before going further into the kitchen. “That just won’t do. I’m not letting my friend eat goddamn Eggo waffles on his birthday. You’re gonna get Tim’s special french toast whether you like it or not.”_

And then that was that. Tim had made the best damn french toast Rhys had ever had. Not that he would ever tell his mom that, of course. But ever since that morning, it had become a tradition for him to make Rhys breakfast on his birthday. This year, however, Tim had been stuck completely renovating his coffee shop, which he only recently finished. Rhys was...well, surprised that he remembered. He really shouldn’t be though. Tim was amazing at remembering special dates, even less important ones. He even remembered Rhys and Vaughn’s ‘bro-versary’ (which was really just the day they had officially become friends) and called to playfully congratulate them. 

What did he ever do to deserve Timothy Lawrence as his friend? 

It took him a bit to fully wake up and sort himself out, but once he did, he made his way out into the kitchen where Tim had set up breakfast. Automatically, a wide grin formed on his chapped lips. It was the same as every year, two perfectly cooked pieces of french toast drenched in syrup - he had gotten the ‘real’ stuff per Tim’s request one year - and topped with a few pieces of bacon. 

“Orange juice?” Rhys gestured towards the glasses beside the two plates. He realized this was actually the first year they ate the birthday breakfast together.

Tim just shook his head with an almost devious grin, twisting his body just enough to grab a green bottle from the counter. “Mimosas. Gotta start the morning off right, huh?” One part of Rhys just _loved_ the idea of a mimosa in the morning. But the other part of him just wanted to groan. Did Tim not realize that any kind of alcohol was clearly a bad idea for him? Still...his best friend went out of his way to do this for him, he couldn’t possibly say no.

“Thank you, Tim.” Rhys had came up to the taller man to give him a hug but hesitated, everything that happened last night still swirling through his head. So instead, he gave Tim a gentle squeeze on the arm and spun back around to sit at the table. “You know, you should sell these at your shop in the mornings. They’d be a huge hit. But I know you guys are pretty busy enough as is.” As Tim sat down across from him, Rhys began picking off pieces of the bacon and popping them into his mouth with a pleased sound.

“Well...I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. You’re unemployed right now, right?” Rhys furrowed his brows at the older man, but nodded. He hadn’t really been able to find a real job after college. He had pretty much just been bouncing back and forth from whatever part-time jobs would take him. “Okay, well...I-I don’t know how you would feel about it, but, um...m-maybe you could, um...try out a spot at the shop...if you wanted to, o-of course.” Tim added the last part hurriedly, wanting to make sure he made that very clear.

“What spot?” He couldn’t deny that he was interested in it for many reasons. One, working with his best friend sounded like a lot of fun. Two, he already knew everyone that worked there anyway, Maya, Axton, Tim and Lilith. And three, he knew how to make a damn good frappuccino. 

“We could start with taking and bringing orders at first, see how you like the environment and all. Then if everything goes well, we could see about getting you a better position, maybe making some of the drinks. Not only would it help us out a bunch having an extra person around but if you _really_ wanted me to put this on the menu, having you there would let me be able to spend some more time in the kitchen.” The whole time Tim spoke, he didn’t look at Rhys even once. It was as if he didn’t even want to see his reaction. To be honest, Rhys found that kind of...cute. Especially since his reaction was nothing to be afraid of.

“I’m in.” 

“Wait, what, huh?”

***

Tim looked at Rhys with wide, shocked eyes. Did he...did he hear him right? Did he just say yes? Holy shit, he had been so afraid to bring it up to him because he thought the kid would say no. Not _yes_. 

“Oh my god, Rhys, you...holy shit, you have no idea how much that’s gonna help us. You just...god, I could just kiss you.” The words left his mouth before he had a chance to think about it. Last night had been...interesting. To say the least. To the point where he just...couldn’t stop thinking about it. Yeah, sure, he may have had a _tiny_ crush on the kid. But that didn’t mean anything, right? 

His body clearly proved him wrong when he leaned over the table, one hand gingerly cupping Rhys’ cheek while the other steadied himself over the table. Rhys was staring at him in complete shock as Tim pressed his forehead to his own. But his lips just hovered, barely even a centimeter away from Rhys’. He knew how fucked up all of this probably was. Rhys was probably still getting over whatever the hell Jack did to him. And he _looked_ almost identical to Jack, despite there being a ten year difference between the two of them. Yes, he had a huge urge to kiss the cute kid but he wanted to give him a chance to back out if he needed to. The last thing he wanted was to scar him more than he probably already has been.

Though he expected Rhys to pull back or push him away, he didn’t. He did the complete opposite, actually. Mismatched eyes fell shut, chapped lips parting and just... _waiting_ , begging for Tim to kiss them.

And that was all the encouragement he needed.

His tongue peeked out, its tip gathering up the syrup that had collected around the corner of Rhys’ lips. The action was rewarded with a shaky, but pleased breath that sounded like heaven to his ears. Fuck holding back. Tim’s lips closed around Rhys’ lower lip, sucking the flesh into his mouth and earning a half-moan/half-groan from the man under him. He gave the lip a quick nip before pulling back, hearing the beginning of a whine from Rhys. But it was quickly silenced by Tim’s lips pressing against his firmly, swallowing Rhys’ surprised gasp.

Their lips moved in unison and hell, Tim couldn’t even care that Rhys’ lips were partially sticky from the syrup. They tasted _sweet_ and terribly addicting. The little voice in the back of his head told him this was all such a bad idea. He was here thinking his best friend’s lips were sweet and addicting. But he easily pushed that stupid little voice further into the back of his head when Rhys’ hands came up to fist into the front of his shirt, somehow trying to pull him closer. It was then that Tim was very glad that Rhys had opted for the tiny square table when buying furniture for his new apartment. It was small enough that instead of completely falling into into the plates, Tim decided to simply stand up and carefully walk around the outside of the table. All the while, his lips never left the younger man’s, tongue now sneaking out again to run along his lower lip and coax those sweet borders to part. 

Rhys complied as soon as Tim reached his seat, though his tongue was barely able to snake into the warm cavern before Rhys was letting out a loud, surprised sound. Their lips were forced apart as Tim bent down to tuck his forearms beneath Rhys’ thighs, hoisting him up and off of the chair. The kid may be lanky but he was a hell of a lot lighter than he had expected, which worked out in his favor because he wasn’t exactly the strongest guy out there. 

Tim had to bite back a groan as soon as said lanky limbs wrapped around him, arms around his neck and legs hooking around his waist tight enough to press their hips together. He was pretty sure this was supposed to be a quick ‘thank you’ kiss, just as Rhys’ had been last night. But he just couldn’t bring himself to stop at this point. Rhys was _addicting_. Not just his lips, everything about him was making him crazy and leaving him wanting more. And he proved that point by moving them away from the table and pressing Rhys’ back into the wall beside the fridge with a breathless laugh.

“Shit, kiddo...” He uttered against Rhys’ pale skin as he began trailing kisses away from his lips, covering the skin in featherlight pecks all along his jaw. “Really wasn’t supposed to go this far.” And Rhys just laughed against him, head tipping to bury into Tim’s neck and exposing his own in the process. That inked skin was just _so_ tempting. And he was going to mark it, claim it as his own before his ears perked up at the sound of buzzing behind him. Brows furrowed, he tore himself away from Rhys’ skin to awkwardly glance back over his shoulder.

Rhys’ phone was lit up, ‘Alice’ with a dragon emoji beside it displayed on the top. Of all times, his cousin decides to call him _now_? Still, it was family. Begrudgingly, he lowered Rhys back down to his feet with a mumble that it was his cousin calling. There was a flash of disappointment in the kid’s eyes before he awkwardly brushed past Tim and went to answer his phone, leaving him to groan and lean against the wall.

What the hell was he doing?

***

“H-Hey, Alice.”

“Hey! I didn’t get to say goodbye to you last night...no one did, actually.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Rhys settled back down in his chair, grimacing at the mention of last night. “I, uh...started feeling a bit sick and asked Jack to take me home early. Sorry about that, Al.” He tried really hard not to cringe just at the mention of Jack’s name. 

“Well, speaking of Jack, I don’t know if he told you but I scheduled a tat appointment with him for today. I thought you could come with me? I’m sure you wouldn’t mind an excuse to see that hot boyfriend of yours.” Alice teased on the other line. But Rhys’ blood practically ran cold. He really...really never wanted to see Jack again. Let alone have to call him his ‘boyfriend’ again. What could happen if he did come along? He was pretty sure Jack wouldn’t dare do anything to him in such a public place, especially in his own tattoo shop. But he didn’t exactly trust himself enough to not do anything. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he could keep up the ‘fake boyfriends’ act after what happened. 

A quick glance towards Tim as he came back to the table was all it took for him to calm down. His coffee shop was right beside the tattoo shop. If worse came to worse, he could just go on over there and hide out for a while. If Jack did try anything, there was no way he could do it with Tim around. “Yeah. Sure. Just text me the time and everything.” He finally responded, making Tim’s brows furrow in confusion.

“Great! I’ll meet you there, bunny. See you soon!” And with that, the call ended with Rhys rolling his eyes at the nickname. She was 4 when he was born, so they grew up rather close, especially since her family came around pretty often. Once he hit 2 years old, his energy just skyrocketed. To the point where little 6 year old Alice oh-so-lovingly began calling him ‘bunny’, referring to how he practically hopped around constantly. All these years later, he was never able to get her to just drop the damn nickname already, especially since he rarely ever finds himself feeling energetic these days. 

“What was that about?” Tim had begun to cut into his slowly cooling french toast, eyeing Rhys the whole time. He couldn’t help but offer an apologetic smile. “Alice, uh...wants me to come with her to get her tattoo done.”

“Oh, cool. What’s she getting?” Tim grinned at him, glancing at the time before shoving a mouthful of food into his mouth. 

“I don’t know but Tim...Jack is the one giving her tattoo.” Rhys had to lower his gaze to his plate when he saw the mortified look on Tim’s face. His tongue came out to wet his lips, which were still practically tingling from that...really, really amazing kiss. God, what was he even thinking? That’s his _best friend_. Well...he did kiss Vaughn on a dare once...and then Sasha just minutes after. But it was different this time. That was on a dare, this was completely voluntary. That kiss held passion he didn’t even know either of them had...oh, he was so fucked up.

“I gotta go.” Rhys’ head snapped up when he heard the scraping of the chair against the floor, watching Tim pretty much down his entire drink before taking his plate over to the counter. His jaw was tense and his eyes were completely unreadable. In a split second of panic, Rhys scrambled back to his feet and made his way over to where Tim had started cleaning off the dish. “I-If I need to...can I...can I come to the shop and hang out for a bit?” He was hesitant to ask for some reason, but he really didn’t know why.

***

Tim let out a heavy sigh, reaching out to turn off the water before turning to Rhys. Once he dried off his hands, one of them came up to Rhys’ cheek, fingertips just ghosting over the skin. “Of course you can. Especially if it means getting away from him. But I really need to go now, okay? How about...” Tim paused as he went out into the living room to pull on his shoes, Rhys following close behind him. “you work on your resumé a bit and bring it to me if you stop by? I mean...y-you really don’t need one because you pretty much already got the job but...just to make it a bit more professional, y’know?” He gave the younger man an awkward smile, who returned it while toying with his metal fingers. 

“I can do that. Thank you again...for being here. You helped me take my mind off of everything.” _In more ways than one_ , Tim thought to himself but quickly pushed that thought back before he could start blushing from the memory of what had just happened in the kitchen. “And thank you for my belated birthday breakfast. I’ll finish it up when you go.”

“Don’t mention it, kiddo. As long as I’m around, you won’t ever be eating Eggo waffles for your birthday again.” From there, Tim hesitated. He wanted to go over and give Rhys a hug goodbye but he knew...god, he just knew that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to tear himself away. So, he instead offered an awkward wave before grabbing his phone from its place on the couch and leaving the apartment. There was an itch. Such a strong itch to go back inside and keep that kid safe. The thought of Rhys with Jack just made his blood boil. And it wasn’t just because of the fact that he knew Jack could do something to hurt him again. It was also just...the mere thought of the two of them _together_ , even just for pretend...he hated it.

But he shouldn’t. Rhys was his friend. Nothing more. Yes, they shared a...very passionate moment back there. It was passionate but it could never happen again. No matter how much he wanted it to. He respected their close friendship too much to risk messing that up. And sure, maybe there was a chance that it wouldn’t make a difference with their friendship. But he really couldn’t risk it. 

That didn’t stop him from feeling almost...possessive over him. What the hell was his issue? Rhys wasn’t _his_. Granted, he wasn’t exactly Jack’s either. Far from it. Shit, he was so screwed. No. No, he was fine. Perfectly fine. He just needed to make sure what happened back there _never_ happens again.

Because Rhys was just his best friend. Nothing more. Never anything more.


	4. Tattoos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rhys learns trying to deal with Jack is _not_ easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments. Guys. Your _comments_ though. I fucking love them all, you're all so amazing for supporting this. Thank you so much for all of the love you've given this fic so far  <3
> 
> Trigger warning here for anxiety attacks (just one) and general mentions of anxiety.
> 
> My Tumblr (come say hi!) ~ http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com/ ~

Waiting for Alice _sucked_. It wasn’t the actually waiting part that he hated. It was the fact that he knew very well that Jack was just on the other side of the wall he was leaning against. He kept glancing over at Tim’s coffee shop, wanting to go in and pass the time but also not wanting to make things...well, awkward after what happened in the morning. He really fucked up, didn’t he? Tim just...waved goodbye and that was it. Nothing else, not a single word, not a single touch. But what they had done was so...so messed up. He was supposed to be fake dating Jack and yet he was at home making out with his younger brother. Ugh, why did he have to stick himself into these kind of situations?

“Bunny!” Rhys fought the urge to groan at the all too familiar nickname, but fell right back into his ‘fake relationship’ role right away. “Pleaaaase don’t call me that around Jack. He’ll never let me live it down.” He was pretty sure that was true anyway, fake dating or not.

“Sorry.” The petite woman snickered, hand immediately going out to grab Rhys’ robotic wrist, pulling him along towards the tattoo shop without hesitation. “I promise I’ll be good. Now, you have to be completely honest with me about my tattoo idea, okay? It’s a bit cheesy but...I don’t think it’s _that_ bad.” Rhys was barely even listening to her as she opened up the glass doors and pulled him inside.

Mismatched eyes fell on Jack in an instant, his heart hammering against his chest. For a moment, it felt like he couldn’t even breathe. Fear wracked his body, he couldn’t help it. Jack was _terrifying_ to him. And time seemed to completely stop when heterochromatic eyes fell on him, mouth open and gaping as if he was surprised to see Rhys here. Looks like Alice hadn’t mentioned that little part to the artist. 

“Heya, pumpkin.” Jack greeted as he straightened himself up, but his voice was strained. It was clear that only Rhys could see that look of danger in his eyes, because Alice just began talking to the man behind the counter in a cheery voice as if she didn’t really he _definitely_ wasn’t paying any attention to her. “Hey! I brought the design like you asked. And I brought Rhys along for support.” She grinned at the two of them as Jack made his way around the counter, eyes only on Rhys. It was a predatory look, like he was just waiting to pounce and rip his throat out when he got the chance.

“I don’t mind that at all. Always happy to see my princess.” Jack cooed and extended one arm to wrap around Rhys waist, forcing him to bite back a surprised yelp as he pulled the skinny man to his chest. That’s when Jack leaned in and pressed his lips to his cheek, just in front of his ear. Despite the sweet tone he took on just seconds before, he now gave a menacing growl into Rhys’ ear. “You’re friggin’ dead for telling Nisha.” This time, Rhys couldn’t help but whimper and he could only hope Alice didn’t catch it. _Tim_ had been the one to tell Nisha but...there was no way he was going to sell him out. 

“So,” Jack started, stepping back from Rhys in an instant to focus on his cousin. “let’s head to the back so we can work on that design of yours.” He didn’t even spare Rhys another glance as he started leading Alice towards the back, leaving Rhys to follow with numb legs. He already wanted all of this to be over and done with, to go to the coffee shop and let Tim make him feel better. 

But he had to stick with it just a little longer, at least until he sees whatever design his cousin had picked out. Jack kept up that...sickening gentleman act all the while, complimenting Alice on how _wonderful_ the wedding had been and how he was _so sorry_ that they had to leave early. It made Rhys want to gag. If only she knew the real reason why they had left early....

Before he knew it, he was being called over to look at the design. Reluctantly, Rhys forced himself to stand by Jack’s side, who took the chance to slither an arm around his waist and hold him to his side. Oh, he just wanted this to end already. But he forced himself to ignore the older man for the time being, instead peering down at the piece of paper in Alice’s hands. It was actually...really nice. Definitely not her usual style. She already had a dragon’s tail wrapped around her left arm, something written in Elvish on her ankle, a simple black ‘F’ written on one middle finger and a ‘U’ written on the other.

But this was more...feminine, for lack of better words. It was one single peony, but one side was white and the other was purple. On paper, there was a very clear line between the two. But he seemed to recall hearing her say something about blending the colors together to make it look more like one whole peony. Rhys knew the story behind this and he had to admit it was a cute idea. She and her now husband had met on a blind date. Her friend was convinced that this guy was _perfect_ for her but gave absolutely no description other than that. Her friend had the two of them get a peony, to be able to find each other in the crowded bar they met at. Alice’s was purple and her husband’s was white. And from there, it was history. So, the idea was definitely cheesy, as she had said previously. But Rhys actually loved it.

“Al? It’s perfect. Does Nick know you’re getting it?” Despite the strong arm wrapped around him, he began to find comfort in the simple things. Like the sheepish grin on Alice’s lips when she shook her head. “Nah. It’s a surprise. Do you think he’ll like it?”

“He’ll love it.” Rhys assured her before her phone went off. He was able to get a glimpse of the ‘Baby’ with a few heart emojis beside it before she groaned and answered the call, beginning to walk away from the two men while scolding her husband for calling her when he _knew_ she was busy.

Jack wasted no time taking advantage of that moment and pulled him into the corner where they were just out of sight. Rhys’ heart was already racing and it only quickened when Jack pressed him up against the wall, large hands tangled into his hair. His body was completely frozen. He should try to get away, yell at him, do _something_. But he couldn’t.

“You know, ya have a lot of nerve showing your face in here after you told Nisha what happened. I’m not even allowed to _call_ her now. And for what? Because I gave some stupid little kid a piece of my mind? Should’ve just drowned ya in the ocean. Maybe pulled you out and saved your life, let everyone think of me as a friggin’ hero.” The maniacal grin on Jack’s face was unsettling. It made Rhys squeeze his eyes shut. He didn’t even want to see the asshole’s face. He hated how it looked so much like Timothy but so...fucking scary. “And then you go and call my brother, acting so tortured and pathetic. Heh...funny, kid. You could barely handle what I did to ya when I could have easily done soooo much more. Coulda-” Jack paused, seeming to listen to something for a moment before he closed the distance between them.

The way Tim and Jack kissed were so different. Tim kissed like he meant it, full of passion but still gentle. He took his time, letting both of them savor each and every moment. Jack...well, Rhys wasn’t entirely surprised, Jack kissed exactly like his personality. It was hard, rough and unforgiving. His tongue forced its way past Rhys’ lips before he even got the chance to figure out what was going on, exploring the cavern of his mouth without hesitation. His hands dropped from Rhys’ now messed up hair and snaked down to palm his ass through his jeans, fingers curling and nails biting into the clothed flesh. The sensation made his hips involuntarily jerk and _that_ was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him at that moment. With his hips jerking up, they pressed into Jack’s, who seemed to take that as a sign to move in impossibly closer and practically suffocate him with this body. And all Rhys could do was grip the older man’s forearms and just _hope_ that it would all be over soon.

“Hey, lovebirds. I-oh, gross.” Rhys made a mental note to send Alice a huge ass bouquet of peonies to thank her for coming back so soon. Hearing her voice, Jack stepped away from Rhys and allowed him to finally breathe properly. There was a dark smirk on the man’s face before he turned back to face Alice with an awkward laugh. “Sorry ‘bout that. Just can’t keep my hands off of him. So, you wanna get started on your idea? You want it on your thigh, right?” There was no way Rhys could stand being here any longer. Not without a break, at least.

“Hey, uh...Al, do you want some coffee or something? I can run down to the coffee shop real quick and grab something.” When she wasn’t looking at him, Jack’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the coffee shop. There was an unspoken threat of ‘don’t tell him anything’. Of course, Rhys would ignore that threat. There was no way he could hide any of this from his best friend. With Vaughn...he could hide it. Just because he knew Vaughn would do something stupid like go try to fight Jack himself. And he really didn’t want his friend to get hurt like that because of him.

“Ooh, that’s Timmy’s shop, right? Tell him I say hi! And I just want a caramel frap and a brownie. I saw the sign outside saying they’re selling them and that sounds sooooo good right now.” 

“Yeah...I’ll get that for you. Do you want anything...handsome?” The fake smile was back on his lips as he turned to Jack. He just needed to keep up the act just a little bit longer...

Jack just shook his head and waved him off without a word. That was enough encouragement for Rhys and he rushed out of the shop. As soon as he stepped foot outside, it felt like he could finally breathe again. But it didn’t last long before the huge weight on his shoulders just came crashing down, all of the emotions he couldn’t show back there now spilling out rapidly. Oh god, no, not again. Rhys covered his mouth with his flesh hand to hide his trembling lips as he made his way down the sidewalk, watery eyes desperately looking for the door to the cafe, ‘Home Sweet Home’. 

He was finally able to get in as soon as his chest started tightening, his breathing picking up as mismatched eyes scanned the area for Tim. He barely heard Maya greeting him when he walked in, eyes falling on Tim - so much like Jack, he thought in his panicked state - as soon as the man lifted his head in response to hearing his name. He had been wiping down one of the tables when Rhys walked in, but immediately dropped everything he was doing when their eyes met. 

Rhys didn’t even give the man a chance to speak before he was practically running over, long arms wrapping around Tim’s strong back and burying his head into the side of his neck. He wanted to cry, he _needed_ to cry. But the tears never came. Anxiety washing over him in an instant. His breathing quickened until he was sure he was close to hyperventilating, eyes wide and hands trembling against Tim’s upper back. Fuck, this hadn’t happened to him in so long.

“Hey, hey, hey, Rhys, look at me. Look at me, fuck, come here.” Rhys felt like he was underwater, barely registering the fact that he was being dragged over to the couch, then settled on top of Tim’s lap with one hand firmly grasping his hip, the other rubbing the back of his neck in slow, soothing motions. “Shhh, you’re okay. You’re always safe with me, okay? Breathe, kiddo, breathe. Slowly...slowly, there we go.” The gentle tone of Tim’s voice broke through the veil of anxiety that covered him, just long enough for Rhys to attempt to comply and get control of his breathing. It was hard, it was so fucking hard not to just give in an let his anxiety take over. But he knew he needed to relax. Tim was right. He’s safe with him. Nothing will hurt him as long as he’s around. 

That thought alone let Rhys breathe slow enough so he wouldn’t feel completely lightheaded. Unfocused eyes saw a crack of a smile on Tim’s lips. “There we go. Good. Okay, Rhys? I need you to do something for me, okay?” Rhys just nodded, though not entirely understanding everything he said. “Look around for me, okay? I want you to tell me five things you can see. Can you do that for me?” Rhys hesitantly nodded again, slowly beginning to relax against Tim’s body as he looked around the shop.

“U-Um...the...tables, lights...p-pictures, um...the windows...you.” Rhys added the last part with a semblance of a smile as his gaze returned to the man beneath him. 

“Good, perfect.” Tim’s hand was in his hair now, gingerly running through the slicked back strands. “What about 4 things you can touch?” 

Rhys flexed his fingers almost experimentally, realizing they had been gripping onto Tim’s shoulders the entire time. They loosened their grip before he finally spoke up. “Your, um...your shirt...the couch, your hair...your nose.” His smile only began to grow as his fingertip brushed over the bridge of Tim’s nose, making him scrunch it up with a playful huff.

“Alright, alright. What about 3 things you can hear?” Tim’s hands slowly smoothed down Rhys’ back, silently coaxing him to lean forward and rest against him. And Rhys complied without even having to think about it, his head dropping down to rest against the back of the couch. “The, um...the music, Maya talking to Axton...cars honking their horns outside.” Slowly, his eyes were able to fall shut. He didn’t know where Tim had learned to help calm down anxiety attacks but fuck, he really owed him now. He went from feeling completely trapped underwater and losing his surroundings to slowly gaining control and relaxing again. Though there was still a small bit of anxiety that refused to go away. But his body felt too worn out to react anymore.

“2 things you can smell.” Tim didn’t even have to ask him anymore, Rhys was more than happy to do whatever he said as long as it allowed him to get back in touch with the world around him.

“Coffee. Lots of coffee. And...ngh, my favorite brownies.” Rhys felt Tim grin against his neck, his hands continuing to stroke his back in slow, long motions. “I’ll give you some if you can tell me one thing you can taste.”

“Can I taste the brownies?” Rhys lifted his head just enough to flash a cheeky smile, which made Tim roll his eyes dramatically and pat Rhys’ hip as a hint for him to get off. The younger man whined but did eventually comply and flop onto the couch instead. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as Tim left to grab one of the wrapped up brownie bars. Whenever he would have his anxiety attacks before, it would take him at least 10 minutes to get himself fully settled down and relaxed again. But Tim did it within just a couple minutes so easily. He really, really owed him.

After a few minutes, Tim returned with the brownie and the chai tea latte he almost always ordered. The anxiety was now long gone but knowing that Tim knew his usual order made his heart start racing again. _No_ , he reminded himself, _just friends_.

“You’re a saint, Tim.” Rhys sighed out as he took the items, wedging the drink between his legs to let it cool while he started to dig into the brownie. Meanwhile, Tim settled back down beside him, hands resting over his lap as he watched him closely.

“You don’t have to tell me...but I’d like to know what happened to give you such a bad anxiety attack. Mine used to be that bad too.” Rhys lifted his head in surprise. And it seemed like he didn’t even have to ask, the look on his face probably said it all. “Yeah, I have anxiety, kid. It would make more sense to you if you saw me when I was a kid. I was a really nervous kid growing up. I was that nerd all of the jocks and ‘cool kids’ would pick on and it just got to me over the years. Started always worrying about what I was saying and doing, how people were reacting to me and the anxiety just got worse as time went on. As much of an asshole as he usually is, when it came to my anxiety, Jack was always the one I went to I started having an attack. He taught me that little thing I did with you. It’s the one thing that always helped for me.” It was so weird to hear Tim willingly talk about his brother. It was even more weird to hear him saying something...good about Jack. And it made him feel better...knowing someone like Tim deals with anxiety too. 

It made Rhys feel like he had to be completely truthful with him now too.

“I’m...really fucking scared of him, Tim. At first, I couldn’t really decide if I liked or disliked how...rough and foreboding he is. But after what happened at the wedding, I realized I really...really hate it. It scares me. I feel like it shouldn’t, y’know? Like I should just grow a pair and suck it up.” He let out a bitter chuckle, mechanical fingertip tracing the lid of the cup between his legs. Tim opened his mouth, probably to scold him for thinking that way but he continued on. “He thinks I told Nisha. He said I’m dead for telling her, pressed me against the wall and said he should’ve just let me drown in the ocean. Kissed me when Alice was coming back so it would just look like we were making out and not...like I was fearing for my life. I felt so violated.” With a shake of his head, he bit off another piece of the brownie, now trying to make himself focus on anything else to keep his mind off of _him_. 

Tim was silent for a while, but his hand had moved to Rhys’ knee to give gentle strokes with his thumb. The constant touch helped him stay in the moment and not thinking back to everything that happened with Jack. But fuck, if he didn’t start tearing up again. It felt like he needed one day to just _cry_ and get everything out.

“Why don’t you just tell them the truth?” Tim asked after a few minutes of silence. “Or say you guys broke up?” 

“I don’t wanna break their hearts, Tim. Especially now that they actually like him.”

“I’d much rather you break their hearts than sit around knowing you’re risking Jack breaking something far worse. You have no idea what he could do to you, Rhys.” That certainly didn’t help his anxiety at all. But once Tim saw the almost panicked look on his face, he shook his head and leaned in to press his lips to Rhys’ temple. Oh...that felt really nice. “I’m sorry. I worry about you, you know that. Look, how about I come back with you? Business is pretty slow around this time so Maya and Axton should be alright handling everything here for a bit.”

Rhys just nodded, the thought of Tim being there with him just for a little bit already making him feel a lot less nervous. “I’d like that. Oh, Alice wants a caramel frappuccino and a brownie.”

“Does my dear brother want anything? I can put salt in his coffee instead of sugar.”

Both men snickered childishly at that.

***

With Tim by his side now, Rhys felt a lot less nervous making his way to the station where Jack had just started the tattoo on Alice’s thigh. But there was a look of pure anger on his face when he saw that Tim was with him. That look made Rhys instinctively press closer to the man beside him. 

Jack was fear and anxiety. 

Tim was safety and comfort.

“Timmy, hey! Oh my god, that frap looks so good right now, I’ve been dying to try your coffee.” Alice made grabby hands at the man holding her goodies, who chuckled and stepped over to hand her both the drink and the brownie before returning to Rhys’ side in an instant.

“I heard the wedding went well. You two going on a honeymoon?” Tim’s arm casually draped over Rhys’ shoulder. And he knew it was a subtle way to let him know he was _right_ there and nothing would happen to him. Rhys really didn’t deserve to have him as his friend. 

Alice nodded, sucking up the icy coffee through the straw before responding. “We’re going to Paris. Romantic, huh? It was all his idea too, which surprised me.” She continued to go on and on about their honeymoon plans while Rhys dared a glance over at Jack. He was glaring at him, the kind of glare that made Rhys reach out and grasp onto the hem of Tim’s black polo shirt. Tim glanced down at his hand and then towards Jack, matching his intense glare. When there was a pause, Tim spoke up, arm dropping from Rhys’ shoulders to face him instead.

“Well, I should be heading back. You got the resumé, kid?” 

***

Tim knew what he was doing. He got to see the way Jack looked at Rhys now, he got to understand why it was so frightening for him. Jack could easily tear him apart and he wouldn’t allow that. He wasn’t...entirely sure when he had made himself Rhys’ protector. But he knew it was long before any of this ever happened. If anything happened to the kid, he was always the first to want to fuck up whoever caused him any trouble. 

“U-Um...yeah?” Rhys sounded unsure, but he still reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the folded up pieces of paper that were stapled together. “I had to redo it last minute so...sorry if it kinda sucks.”

Tim just snorted, unfolding the paper and continuing on as he read it through. “Like I said, it’s just to make me seem a bit more professional. You got the job anyway, you know. Think you could start tomorrow? Come in around...10, maybe?” He glanced up from the papers, flashing a warm smile that seemed to make Rhys relax a bit. He could feel Jack’s intense gaze burning into his skin at this point. And it took everything he had not to be smug and smirk. 

“I can do that. Does this mean I get free coffee?” Rhys asked sweetly with a bat of his lashes. Tim had to laugh at that, while pushing the thoughts into the back of his head that were saying Rhys was _really_ cute when he did that. “You get a discount for now. When you start actually making the coffee, then we can talk about it. How about-”

“ _How about_ we take a quick break so I can catch up with my brother, ‘kay?” Jack didn’t exactly wait for a reply before he was wiping off the area he was tattooing and standing up straight, jerking his head towards a room in the very back. Tim knew well that it was his personal ‘office’ and going with him may not be the best idea. But maybe he could finally give Jack a piece of his damn mind.

As Jack turned to head to the office, Rhys leaned in close to whisper to Tim. “Kick his ass for me, okay?” Tim was slightly surprised by the request but ended up grinning at him and lifting a hand to playfully pinch his cheek between his fingers. “Already planning on it, kid.” Which was true. He’d been waiting a long time - okay, fine, just ever since last night - to reprimand Jack for all the shit he did.

He gave Rhys and Alice a quick wave before tucking his hands into his pockets and following Jack. As soon as the two brothers got into the closed off room, Jack exploded.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Timothy?”

“What the hell do _I_ think I’m doing?! You do realize Rhys is wearing makeup to hide the friggin’ bruises on his throat from when _you_ choked him.”

“What do you want me to say, huh? He was annoying the shit outta me and I gave him a piece of my mind, showed him who’s boss.”

“He’s a _kid_ , Jack. Can’t you be the bigger man for once and oh, I don’t know, _not_ completely abuse the people around you? What do you think Angel would say if she knew her sweet and loving father made some kid fear for his goddamn life?”

Tim was pinned against the wall in an instant, Jack’s forearm tucked under his chin and pressing down against his throat. But he didn’t bat an eye. This was far from the first time Jack’s done something like this. Hell, it’s tame considering what Jack easily _could_ do to him. 

“Don’t you dare bring up Angel.” He snarled, identical eyes wild with fire. “How _dare_ you.”

Tim couldn’t help but scoff, eyes glancing towards the door before they settled back on his brother. “You can’t say that when you gave an innocent kid the worst anxiety attack I’ve ever seen him have.” Jack tensed up at that, eyes momentarily flickering away from Tim’s face to look anywhere else but him. “Yeah, Jack. Just like mine used to be. I helped him through it though, by doing what _you_ taught me.”

“What’s your friggin’ point?” Jack uttered through gritted teeth, however still refusing to actually look at him.

“My point is that you weren’t always this much of an asshole. You used to stop the anxiety attacks, not give them. Look, does Rhys have a bit of sass to him? Yes, hell yes he does. But you know what else? He’s afraid of heights like me and he has anxiety like I do. Whenever he needs a good cry, he’ll sit on his couch with a tub of ice cream and watch The Notebook. When any of his friends have a birthday coming up, he’ll spend weeks, even months trying to find the perfect gift.” The cold, deadly look on Jack’s face began to falter, the pressure releasing on his throat before falling away completely as he dropped his arm with a heavy sigh.

“And why exactly are you telling me this?” 

“Because you need to know _who_ he is. Whatever...fucked up part of you is only seeing the shit that pisses you off and doesn’t care to see anything else. You need to give him a chance, Jack. He’s doing this fake date shit because he doesn’t want to disappoint his family. Don’t take advantage of that. Or I _will_ come back and I _will_ give you a piece of my damn mind because I’m tired of seeing him so terrified.” Tim’s voice had dropped to a low, threatening growl, one hand raising to fist into the collar of Jack’s shirt. “He’s a _good_ kid, Jack. And he doesn’t deserve any of the shit you’re doing to him. Nisha trusted you enough to take care of him. Does that mean absolutely nothing to you?”

Through the anger that hung in the air, Jack’s eyes twinkled in something like amusement, which Tim caught and responded with an annoyed ‘what?’.

“Just funny. You defend him like I defend Nish. You sure you’re just ‘best friends’, Timmy?” Tim faltered, his confidence dwindling away just at that mere comment. With a groan, Tim shoved Jack away and began straightening himself up. “Just knock it off, okay? Rhys or not, I’m not gonna put up with any kind of abuse from you. Once you really get to know him, you’ll see he’s a good kid. And I can only hope you’ll end up regretting all the shit you did to him.” With a disinterested wave, Tim pulled the door open but paused in the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder with a seemingly innocent smile. “Oh yeah, and I was the one that told Nisha. I wasn’t gonna let you get away with that shit.” He only saw a glimpse of the look of pure rage on his brother’s face as he exited the office. Fuck, he really just hoped what he said would work.

***

After his anger passed (and a fist sized hole was made in the wall), a devious smirk formed on Jack lips. So, Timmy’s got a little crush, huh? Can’t say he really understood it. Yeah, the kid was pretty easy on the eyes but god, that damn mouth of his. Friggin’ annoying once it opens up. 

But hey, maybe he’d humor him, force back all of his ‘violent tendencies’ to ‘give the kid a chance’. If anything, how fun would it be to make the kid fall for him instead of his little brother? It would be a bit of payback for telling Nisha too.

Oh, things just got so much more fun.


	5. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a week of planning, Jack decides it's finally time to enact his plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the summary is basically to show that yes, all of this is part of Jack's little plan. I was going to put it somewhere in this chapter but by the end, I realized it had gotten waaaaaaay too long so yup. Have the summary to clear it up a bit.
> 
> Still continuing to absolutely adore all of your comments. They're a big part of why I keep writing this fic so thank you all for the love <3
> 
> Also, smut ahead! I apologize if it's weird or awkward because I wrote it while half asleep, trying to make sure this chapter was done before today.

The week that followed went...surprisingly okay. A lot of things had been working out in Rhys’ favor. He was able to successfully keep Vaughn from finding out what exactly Jack had done, simply stating that ‘Yeah, he’s an asshole but it’s not too bad’. Which was faaaar from the truth but hey, at least he didn’t have to worry about his best friend trying to kick Jack’s ass. 

Then his new job at Home Sweet Home was actually going really well. It was nice to be able to hang out with friends all day, even in a work environment. He and Maya discovered they both have a huge love for video games and he and Axton often find themselves talking about vintage cars for...some odd reason. Rhys didn’t even know much about them, just that they looked pretty damn cool. Then Lilith returned at the end of the week from her honeymoon with Roland and...yeah, Rhys was slightly intimidated by her.

Tim though...things between them were a bit awkward. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened that day back in the tattoo shop when he and Jack talked, but Tim started to slowly distance himself from Rhys ever since then.

He’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt just a little bit. 

But otherwise, everything was pretty much working out. It helped that he never really saw Jack ever since Alice’s tattoo. He would occasionally catch a glimpse of him through the window of the shop on his way to work but they never once spoke to each other. Not like he was complaining at all. The less he had to interact with Jack, the better. It let Rhys get back into his normal routine. Or...normal now that he was working again. Wake up, eat (usually Eggo waffles but he would never tell Tim that), get ready, head to the shop, work until 5, go home and then spend his time doing whatever the hell else. That was usually either hanging out with Vaughn and Yvette or binge watching reality TV shows. His routine didn’t involve anything like, ‘freak out about Jack’ or ‘tell Tim everything Jack did’ anymore. And that was nice. Really nice.

It was about 5 minutes before closing, Rhys taking it upon himself to sweep up while Lilith cleaned down the tables and Axton stacked the chairs up against the wall. Maya had gone home early and Tim was back in the kitchen working on a couple more batches of brownies. Ugh, it smelled so good. He contemplated sneaking back there and stealing a bar or two, but seeing how distant Tim was with him these days, that may not be the best idea. 

“So...what’s up with you and the boss?” Axton glanced over at him, eyebrows raised. “We all saw how he acted when you had your attack. Well, except Lil here.” He jerked a thumb in Lilith’s direction, who just rolled her eyes, seeming completely uninterested in the whole conversation. “And now, I think I’ve only seen you guys talk...what, a handful of times this whole week?”

“Hell if I know.” Rhys muttered, going over to the large trashcan to dump out the dust pan. “Glad I’m not the only one seeing it though.”

“Maybe it has something to do with all the shit with Jack? I don’t fucking know, man.” Axton shook his head, already giving up on the whole subject and going back to stacking up the last of the chairs. Well, hey, at least this means Rhys wasn’t just imagining things.

“Got time for one last customer, kiddos?” 

Before Rhys was even able to turn around and face the man who had just walked in, Axton was in front of him in an instant. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lilith moving toward the door with her arms crossed over his chest.

“We always have time for customers. Not assholes.” She sneered as Rhys tried to look over Axton’s broad shoulders to see who it even was.

Oh... _Jack_.

He felt his heart actually starting to swell. Their first reactions were to... _protect_ him. He was less surprised that Axton did it, seeing as they’ve known each other for a while. But Lilith...he wasn’t exactly sure what she even thought of him. She was a hard person to read and yeah, pretty intimidating. But even she came to his defense. Working here just got so much better.

“Calm down, short stuff. I just want a damn coffee because I have a long friggin’ night ahead of me.” Jack rolled his eyes dramatically, mimicking Lilith’s stance and crossing his arms over his chest. This was it though...this was Rhys’ chance to redeem himself. He was constantly submissive around Jack and would do whatever the hell he said. No, it was time he stepped up and showed Jack he couldn’t fuck with him anymore. 

“What do you want?” Rhys spoke up with a hand on Axton’s shoulder, silently coaxing him to back down. The man looked at him hesitantly but eventually complied, letting Rhys step around him and make his way towards the counter. He felt Jack’s gaze boring into the back of the skull. But he just smiled to himself and continued to go around behind the counter. The new surge of confidence was...thrilling, almost. Yeah, he was gonna stand up to him. He was gonna prove that he couldn’t just push him around anymore.

Where the hell is this confidence even coming from?

“A mocha frappuccino. In the largest damn cup you have. Think you can do that for me, princess?” Jack cooed, leaning against the bar with his arms crossed over the top. He was grinning at him, but his eyes were intense, watching Rhys’ every movement as he moved around behind the bar. 

Rhys had to snort at his request, already grabbing the largest cup they have in the shop. “Frappuccinos are my specialty. So, I guess you’re in luck tonight.”

“Perfect. Make one for yourself too, sweetcheeks. I wanna talk with ya back at Stallion.” ‘Stallion’ was in reference to his shop. ‘Stallion Tattoos & Piercings’, was the official name. Where the hell Jack came up with the strange name, he didn’t really know.

But he barely cared about that now. Jack was actually asking _him_ to come talk? This had ‘bad idea’ written all over it. But...it was almost closing time. And maybe Jack didn’t really have any ill intentions. That’s a _big_ maybe though.

“Is that what normal people would consider talking or what _you_ consider talking.” Glancing over his shoulder, Rhys used his flesh hand to tap at the almost completely faded bruises on his neck. Jack seemed slightly surprised at his boldness, mouth opening and closing for a moment before his cool demeanor returned. “It’ll be what _I_ consider talking if you don’t hurry up with my damn drink.” Rhys had to stop himself from freezing up completely. There it was, the threats, unspoken and not. He couldn’t give in so easily though. 

“I think we can easily turn it into _my_ version of talking if you don’t stop with your petty little threats, _handsome_.” Rhys spun around with the finished drink in his hand, practically purring out the nickname as the corner of his lips quirked up into a faint smirk. 

_Got him._

Those heterochromatic eyes widened, jaw going slack as Jack just _stared_ in disbelief. From behind him, Rhys could see Axton giving him the same look while Lilith just grinned and offered two thumbs up. Her approval and Axton’s...possible approval, just pushed his confidence even further. He stepped back up to the counter and set Jack’s drink down in front of his folded arms, hands reaching back to undo his apron. “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Just gotta finish up here and grab my paycheck.”

“Y-Yeah...uh, alright, kid.” Jack blinked at him before seeming to snap himself out of the weird daze he was in. With a huff, he grabbed the cup and headed out of the shop, Lilith taking a moment to give him the middle finger and Jack returning the favor with his free hand. 

“Holy shit.” Rhys whispered to himself as he gripped the edges of the counter, feeling like his knees were gonna give out any second. How in the world did he just pull that off? He couldn’t even tell if what he did was a good thing or not. This was either gonna make Jack back off a bit or want to rip his throat out even more.

“You know, I really wish we had a mirror behind the counter because holy _shit_ I would’ve loved to see his face.” Axton burst out into laughter as he approached the counter, reaching over to give Rhys a firm pat on his shoulder. “That was fucking great, kid. Where the hell did all of that come from?”

“I don’t really know.” Rhys admitted sheepishly, pulling his apron up and over his head before folding it neatly. “Just thought I should redeem myself, y’know? I probably shouldn’t keep him waiting though. I’m walking on thin ice enough as it is. Does Tim, uh...handle the paychecks?” Axton just gave him a nod and Rhys sighed out as he glanced towards the door to the kitchen. He hadn’t talked to Tim all day and it fucking sucked. At this point, he really didn’t _want_ to initiate an awkward conversation with him. But he knew he had to. 

Rhys saw two things when he stepped into the kitchen. One, pans full of freshly made brownies lined out over the table that he really just wanted to dig into. And two, Tim with a whisk and bowl in his hand, seeming like he was, uh...taking out his...frustration on the brownie batter. Rhys awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck with his robotic hand, struggling to figure out whether he should say something or just let him be and grab his check some other time. 

He reaaaaally needed to pay rent though.

“Um...Tim?” He saw the man tense in response to his voice, letting out a heavy sigh and setting down the bowl with the whisk inside. “I’m, um...pretty much finished closing up so I’m...” He contemplated telling Tim about talking with Jack or not. But with how rocky their relationship has been the past week...maybe telling him wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Hell, maybe it would be pointless to tell him anyway. Tim didn’t seem to care much these days anyway. “I’m gonna head home.” He finally mumbled, mismatched eyes drifting away from Tim. Why did it hurt so much to know their relationship seemed to be going to shit?

“Oh. Yeah...yeah, here.” After wiping off his hands on the used towel, Tim dug into the front pocket of his apron to pull out Rhys’ check. His hand extended towards him but he didn’t move from his spot. Rhys couldn’t help but frown at him. He wanted to ask him what the hell was going on lately but before he had the chance, he remembered that a certain asshole was still waiting for him. So, Rhys held himself back and stepped over to take the check, unable to keep himself from glaring at Tim before he turned around and walked out of the kitchen without a word. If that was how he was gonna be, fine. 

As soon as he got out, Axton was right there waiting, asking how it went. To which Rhys responded with a lift of his shoulder and a sigh. After pulling on his jacket and tucking his check into the inside pocket, he said his goodbyes to his remaining coworkers. Both wished him luck with whatever the hell was going to happen with Jack, but Lilith was the one who threatened to personally strangle the asshole if he tried anything.

Issues with Tim aside, he _really_ liked working here.

***

“So...”

Rhys had been in Stallion for a good few minutes now, just awkwardly leaning against the front counter as Jack moved around the whole place cleaning up. The guy barely even acknowledged his presence when he had walked in. It was the complete opposite from what Rhys would’ve expected. He thought Jack would have scolded him for taking so long or...hell, anything. But no. All he got was a grunt in response to his awkward ‘Hi’ and that was it.

It wasn’t until Jack came back to the counter to grab his drink that he finally _looked_ at him for the first time since Rhys stepped foot into the building. His lips closed around the straw that looked like it had been chewed on, his free hand gesturing towards one of the couches in the waiting area. Rhys complied immediately, grateful that they were finally going to hopefully talk rather than just awkwardly stand around. 

With Rhys now sitting almost uncomfortably close to the man that made his life a living hell just a week ago, the confidence he had back at the coffee shop began to dwindle away to nothing. He toyed with his metal fingers over his lap, eyes glued to his hands and refusing to look at the man beside him. So much for redeeming himself, huh?

“Hope you like Chinese food.”

“Yeah, I do-wait, huh?” 

Rhys’ head jerked up to stare at Jack with wide eyes. Whoa, when the hell did he sign up for this? Wasn’t this just supposed to be a talk? Yeah...y’know, all he had during the day were brownies and coffee so he was hungry but...why the hell was Jack getting them...dinner? How did things go from Jack threatening to kill him to Jack feeding him? His head was swimming with questions, most of which probably won’t ever get answered.

“Well, I gotta deal with this...friggin’ fake date shit, don’t I? Might as well take you out on a fake date.” Rhys wasn’t having any of it.

“You threatened to kill me.” He deadpanned, arms coming up to cross over his chest. “Truth. Now. I’m not in the mood to deal with your shit today, Jack.”

Large fingers squeezed the cup in his hand, to the point where Rhys could see the cup starting to cave inwards. “I’m trying to friggin’ apologize, don’t make me regret it.” Jack hissed at him, his free hand coming up as if to close around Rhys’ throat. But the way Rhys flinched seemed to make him stop, letting out a frustrated sigh instead. “I’m gonna tell ya something once and only once. You tell anyone and I’ll make sure you’ll get another arm to match that piece of shit.” Rhys frowned as Jack jabbed his finger towards his cybernetic arm. The threat didn’t annoy him nearly as much as the ‘piece of shit’ comment did. It wasn’t _that_ shitty looking, was it? But he quickly shook his head and responded with a simple ‘okay’, eyes watching Jack skeptically.

“Our father left when he found out our mother was pregnant with Tim, claiming he ‘couldn’t deal with two of me’. Hearing that kind of thing from your own father does a lot of shit to you as a kid on its own. But...then our mother died while trying to give birth to Tim. Our grandmother was the only one who could take care of us at that point, because our father had completely disappeared. She...shit, she was a rotten woman, kid. It friggin’ sucked growing up, y’know? She was so sweet and kind with Tim, giving him everything he ever wanted while she used me as her goddamn punching bag.

That really fucks a person up, ya know? Just...I know damn well I’ve got violent tendencies. But the way I was brought up, it was just sorta normal, to be violent and take your anger out on people. I’m not...always that way, kid. My daughter would tell you that in a heartbeat.” Hearing Jack talk about his daughter caught Rhys’ attention. He was already immersed in his life story, all of the missing pieces clicking together in an instant, everything slowly starting to make more sense. But one conversation with Tim the night of the wedding made him learn that Jack _never_ talked about his daughter. Angel, was it? 

“I’m completely different around her, I know that. I try to be that way around other people too but it’s hard to break the habit of throwin’ punches or spitting out insults whenever I want. Self-control ain’t exactly in my vocabulary, kid.” Jack snorted, head tipping back to rest against the couch as he tucked his drink between his thighs. His head tilted just a little bit, enough to look Rhys _right_ in the eyes. “I’m not just tellin’ ya this because I had both Nisha and my damn brother on my ass for it, but I... _apologize_ for what I did to you.” The word left his lips as if it were poison, face scrunching up in displeasure just from saying it. 

Rhys had no idea what to even say. He knew Jack was being honest with him and it was...really, really weird to see him honest like that. But he also wasn’t sure how easily he could just forgive him for all the shit he did. The fear, the anxiety, the bruises...sure, it may all be gone or almost gone for now, but it still happened. Jack still caused them all. Still...it must’ve been hard for Jack to tell him all of this, especially considering how guarded he usually is.

“I...if you can go a week...without seriously threatening me _or_ hurting me...then I’ll accept your apology.”

“A _week_? Oh, come on, kid, I-”

Rhys arched a brow at him.

“... _Fine_.”

***

“So, like...my cybernetic arm is really strong, yeah? They never really told me that after I had the surgery so I never really knew that little fact. But, but when I was like...16, some dude tried to pick me up and he was just _not_ taking no for an answer. He stupidly grabbed my human arm soooo I had no choice but to punch him with my cybernetic one. Pretty sure the asshole lost like...6 teeth, got a broken nose and had a naaaasty fist sized bruise on his cheek.”

Across from him, Jack started cackling madly, hands clapping together as he sunk back into the couch. “Holy shit, kid! So you do have a bit of fight to ya, huh? I guess I’d be stupid to try any shit with ya now that I know that.”

“Yeah, you would be.” Rhys smirked at him, head tipping back to swallow the rest of the amber colored liquid in his glass. Alright, the sober part of him realized drinking with this man probably wasn’t the best idea. But with everything that had been going on the past couple weeks, he felt like he damn well deserved _one_ night to just get drunk and not have any regrets. Well...at least until the next morning. If he remembered anything he did, that is. 

Jack was actually...kind of fun when he was drunk though. That wall he usually had up completely crumbled once he had a bit of alcohol in him. It let Rhys see who he really was. And who he really was was...kind of nice. _And still hot_ , he noted. Being more or less pushed around by the guy for a while made him forget the fact that he was fucking _handsome_. Rhys admittedly caught himself staring more than a couple times, even before they started drinking. Especially since he was wearing such a low cut v-neck and...ugh, no, he needed to snap out of it.

After setting down his glass, he reached out to grab the almost empty bottle of whiskey. But Jack snatched it up before he even got the chance to touch it. A pathetic whine left his lips, flesh hand making grabbing motions at the bottle as if that would somehow bring it back. Jack just grinned at him, holding it close to his chest with one hand while his other lifted to crook a finger at the pouting man. 

“Gotta come and get it if you really want it.” If he were sober, he would be able to notice the way his voice dropped an octave as he spoke, words laced with hidden meanings. But unfortunately or...maybe fortunately for Rhys, he wasn’t sober. He didn’t care about hidden meanings and all that shit. He wanted his damn drink. 

Rhys stood up on shaky legs, nearly completely losing his balance for a moment before he steadied himself using the wall behind him. With a huff, he made his way around the coffee table to stand in front of Jack, arms crossed over his chest and the pout refusing to disappear.

“What? You want something?” Jack’s grin refused to disappear too, just _teasing_ him as he extended the bottle right towards him. Rhys reached out for it desperately, but then everything happened too fast for his drunken mind to comprehend. All he knew was that there was a hand on his wrist and then he was suddenly straddling Jack’s lap. He blinked, eyes trying to focus on the smirking face in front of him but failing miserably.

“What...uh...” He wasn’t able to finish his unintelligible thought before Jack suddenly sat up straight. Large fingers were curled around the bottle again, but now his free hand was sneaking around Rhys’ body, pressing firmly against the middle of his back. Rhys tried to stammer out...something before Jack started to lean forward, tipping Rhys’ body back in the process. His eyes went wide, hands flailing to try to grip onto the front of Jack’s black v-neck. 

Then, the mouth of the bottle was being pressed against his lips. Rhys shot the man a confused look, beginning to feel almost uneasy with whatever the hell he was planning on doing. “Shh, you wanted a drink, didn’t you?” There was a pause, leaving Rhys to hesitantly nod. “Well...” Jack continued on, slowly beginning to tip the bottle upwards, the liquid sliding down the neck of the bottle. “Drink then, princess.” 

There was something in the man’s eyes...something Rhys couldn’t figure out. But through his drunken haze, he was still able to recognize how much his eyes had darkened in such a short amount of time. And fuck, if that sight didn’t go straight to his cock.

He didn’t have time to flush in embarrassment over how turned on he was getting before the liquid began to drip down his throat. He could have sworn he would end up coughing and making a complete fool of himself, but his eyes slipped shut instead as he gulped down the whiskey without a single problem.

“There you go...” Rhys felt Jack’s heterochromatic eyes burning straight through his skin. His eyes fluttered open for just a moment to stare up at the man holding him. Jack’s eyes were heavy lidded, lips parted as he watched Rhys drink every last drop. He watched him like he was practically _hungry_. That alone sent Rhys over the edge.

His head jerked to the side once he was sure the bottle was completely empty. Using his grip on Jack’s shirt, he pulled himself back up and his lips crashed down onto Jack’s in an instant. The kiss was sloppy and rough, teeth and all. But fuck, Rhys was far from caring right now. He was drunk off his ass and in the lap of a man he’s now practically _lusting_ over. Nothing else mattered.

Large hands found his ass, gripping onto him through his jeans and forcing his hips forward. Rhys couldn’t help but let out a wanton moan as his hips pressed into the man’s beneath him. They continued like that, slick foreheads pressed together as both men panted against each other’s lips, hips rocking together in unison. _Fuck_ , it felt so good. When was the last time he was this intimate with anyone? College? Ugh, he didn’t care about specifics. Too long. Way too long.

“Say my name, kid. C’mon, say it.” Jack grunted out, hands coming up to fist into Rhys’ hair and tug his head back. This was unlike all the times Jack had done it before. Before, it was clear Jack had intended to cause him pain. Now, it was clear he intended to cause him pure _pleasure_. It still stung, like all the other times. But it stung so fucking good now. Rhys couldn’t even bring himself to comprehend what Jack was asking him to do. But that was easily fixed by the older man leaning in and biting down, _hard_ on his throat. Just judging by how sensitive it was, Rhys guessed he had picked one of the fading bruises to mark.

It certainly wouldn’t be fading now.

“Jack, Jack, _fuck, Jack_...” The name continued to spill from Rhys’ reddened lips as if his life depended on it. Even without Jack’s hands to guide him, his hips continued to move, grinding down into Jack’s as his thrusted up against him. There was a faint twinge of pride when whatever he was doing earned a muffled groan from Jack’s lips. But that didn’t stop the older man from continuing to mark up Rhys’ neck, _claiming_ him. Each bite, each suck at his skin just drove him closer and closer to his release, until he was practically moaning like a whore on Jack’s lap.

His head was suddenly being jerked forward, eyes wide in surprise as they stared into Jack’s blue and green ones. The act was far too intimate, especially in his drunken state. He tried to look away but a strong, familiar hand just gripped his jaw and kept him looking straight at him. Rhys let out a pathetic whimper, hands coming up to desperately clutch onto Jack’s shoulders. 

“Shiiit, yeah, that’s it. Look at me when you cum, baby. There we go, good boy.” The praise mixed in with the particularly hard jerk of Jack’s hips was enough to send Rhys over the edge. Finding himself not wanting to disobey, his eyes stay locked onto Jack’s, even as he whined out a loud ‘ _Jaaaaack_ ’. Shockwaves of pleasure spread throughout his body, his orgasm crashing down and hitting _hard_. His hips stilled right in the middle of a particularly hard grind against Jack’s lap. The look on Jack’s face as the extra pressure pushed him to his own climax was enough for Rhys to vaguely wonder if he could cum a second time just from looking at that. 

Jack’s face was pure sex just on its own, head tipping back and eyes practically rolling into the back of his head. His mouth hung open as a loud, unabashed groan spilled from his lips, hands coming back down to Rhys’ hips to keep them perfectly still. Blunt nails dug into the exposed flesh where Rhys’ shirt had ridden up, Jack’s own hips rutting up into his as he rode out his own orgasm. Meanwhile, Rhys laid weakly against Jack’s body, every muscle in his body refusing to want to budge, his head completely limp against his broad shoulder. But his skin still tingled pleasantly, even as the initial sparks of pleasure died down. Though he wasn’t entirely sure if that was from jizzing in his pants or from the alcohol that was still spreading throughout his veins. 

In his post-orgasmic haze mixed in with his still very apparent drunkenness, Rhys lifted his flesh hand to gingerly brush his fingertips just beneath Jack’s eye right over the deep scar. Jack was either too tired to care or couldn’t even feel the touch, because the man didn’t even react.

“I saw you closing this eye when tat-tattooing Al...can you see out of it?” With him close enough now, he was really able to get a good look of said eye when Jack opened them to peer at the younger man. He was full of curiosity, his own eyes flickering between both the blue and green irises. The blue was bright and clear, but the green was far more dull, almost looking clouded over.

“Nah.” Jack finally answered, his own hand coming up to brush Rhys’ away from his face. It wasn’t a rough gesture at all, but it was enough to make Rhys realize that he really didn’t like him touching it. “I mean...eh, sorta. Outta the corners. But it’s hard to tattoo when I have it open. Maybe I should get an eyepatch. Think I could rock the sexy pirate look?” Jack wiggled his brows and sent Rhys into a fit of giggles, head burying into his neck with a deep inhale. Mmm, Jack smelled like spiced cologne. 

“Alright, alright, no falling asleep on me, kid. Lemme get you a cab, alright? You got money on ya?” Rhys gave a tired nod before he was forced off of Jack’s lap with a loud whine. But he was just getting comfortable. And Jack felt so good, Rhys could eaaaasily use him as a pillow. 

Watching Jack’s fingers tap against his phone, Rhys’ brows furrowed. Whenever he got drunk, he could barely even walk, let alone remember how to work his phone. Granted, Jack’s probably had a hell of a lot more experience with drinking than he has. Still, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Jack actually cared enough to try to get him home in one piece.

“You’re so nice to me. Unlike your brooother.” He slurred, scooting back towards Jack to rest his head on his broad shoulder. “Pretty sure he hates me now. I’unno why.” Jack’s fingers paused on his phone, taking a moment to glance at Rhys with his eyebrows raised.

“What makes you say that, kid? Haven’t you two been friends for...fuck knows how long?” Giving one last lingering look, Jack eventually went back to his phone, but it was clear he was still listening to whatever Rhys had to say.

And Rhys just shrugged, suddenly feeling tears well up in his eyes. That’s when the sober part of him remembered that yes, he was _that_ kind of emotional drunk. “He’s just stopped talking to me, y’know? He won’t talk to me unless he has to and even when he does, it’s always really brief and short and I hate it because he’s supposed to be my best friend but now he just doesn’t care.” He sniffled, arms coming around to wrap around Jack’s midsection as he rubbed the side of his face against his shoulder. “I hate it. I want things to be nice again. I want my best friend back and I want _you_ to not hurt me or insult me every time you get the chance. Why can’t we all just be happy?” He eventually ended up whining and he heard the older man snickering above him but he couldn’t be bothered to care.

He continued to babble on, forcing Jack to have to cover his mouth with one hand as he lifted his phone up to his ear with a chuckle. “Shhh, kitten.” Rhys pouted against Jack’s palm but silenced himself anyway, allowing Jack to do what he needed with the taxi company. But as soon as he was done, Rhys was batting his hand away and speaking up again, his head now swimming with questions he didn’t have the guts to ask while sober. “How old is your daughter?” He stared at the man with genuine curiosity, seeming unfazed as Jack visibly tenses at the mention of her.

“10.” He replies quickly, using the arm of the couch to help him stand up on his feet without completely losing his balance. “And I ain’t tellin’ you anything else about her.” Rhys frowned at the firm tone of his voice, and Jack seemed to notice because he let out a slow sigh. “One, because I don’t like talking about her, okay? And two, I can’t reveal all my personal shit on the first date. Gotta wait for at least the second date for that.” Rhys blinked at the man grinning down at him, his cheeks beginning to flush.

“A-A...a second...date?” A second... _fake_ date, right? Surely, Jack wasn’t implying...

But Jack scoffed, hands extending to grab onto Rhys’ wrists and pulling him up from the couch with surprising ease considering his inebriated state. It didn’t seem like Rhys even had to worry about balancing himself and standing upright, because Jack held onto him tightly once his arms locked around him, hands settling to rest over his lower back. “Yeah, a second date, princess. Whaddya say, huh? Sunday? What we do can be your pick this time.” Rhys hated himself for how giddy he became at just the thought of going on another date with Jack. Sure, maybe, just maybe, he’d end up regretting it in the morning. But now?

“Y-Yeah, I’d like that. How about-” He was shushed with a finger placed to his lips, staying quiet even as his hand lowered to dip into Rhys’ front pocket. Just as he was about to let out an embarrassed sound - because Jack’s hand was just _too_ close -, Jack pulled out his phone, turning it on easily with a snort. 

“Don’t even have a passcode on this thing? I could easily just go through all of your nudes right now.”

“Oh god, please don’t.”

Oops.

“Ooooh, so you _do_ have nudes on here, huh? Nah, don’t worry, kitten, I won’t snoop.” For a moment, Jack’s thumb tapped along the screen, his other hand still pressing firmly against Rhys’ back to keep him upright. “Aaaand there.” Without another word, Jack tucked Rhys’ phone back into his pocket and stepped back, keeping one hand on his arm in case he ended up falling over. Thankfully, Rhys was able to find his balance quite easily without making a total fool of himself. 

“What did you do?” His brows were furrowed, cybernetic hand moving towards his pocket to grab his phone before Jack stopped him with a hand around his wrist.

“It’s a surprise. You can look when you get home, alright?” Rhys opened his mouth to protest, but Jack raised his eyebrows at him, as if daring him to. Even while drunk, Rhys knew better than to test the older man. He knew he would find out eventually anyway, despite really feeling impatient.

And he did find out later that night. After nearly falling on his face as he got out of the taxi, after fumbling with his keys for what felt like houuuuurs before he was finally able to get inside and after falling into bed face first. He dug his phone out of his pocket with a wide grin that was almost painful, his eyes practically sparkling in amusement once he finally saw what Jack had done.

A new contact was added.

‘ _Handsome Asshole_ ’ followed by a devil emoji.

Rhys knew he would probably regret everything in the morning. But for now? He clutched his phone to his chest and quickly slipped into a deep sleep with a smile on his face like a schoolgirl with a crush. 

He was _so_ fucked.


	6. Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Rhys deals with the consequences of drinking.

It felt like deja vu all over again. The constant knocking on his door, breaking Rhys out of his clearly much needed sleep. The groan of annoyance that left his lips.

But oh no, things were very different. Like the pounding headache he was greeted with as soon as he opened his eyes. And the wave of nausea that washed over him that made him cover his mouth with his robotic hand and rush to the bathroom. The contents from whatever the hell he had put into himself last night spilled into the toilet with sickening retches reverberating off the walls. Hadn’t he promised himself ‘no alcohol’ after the mimosas Tim made him? What the hell did he do last night and why...oh god, why was there a wet spot on the front of his jeans? _Oh god, oh god, what did I do, oh god..._

Flushing the toilet and closing the lid with a loud ‘slam’ that did _not_ help his headache at all, his forehead pressed against the top of the cool lid. Okay, no big deal. He just needed to think back at the last thing he remembered from last night and then hopefully he could remember the rest. Easy. Totally easy...right? Okay, okay, so...he got his paycheck from Tim - which he made a mental note to deal with later - and then...ugh, right, he had to go see the asshole. But he wasn’t...really much of an asshole last night, was he? He actually apologized to him, the last thing he ever thought Jack would ever do. And then the...food came, ugh, really can’t think about the food for too long. Yeah, Jack said it was a fake date. Eh, whatever. They talked and ate and then...that fucker.

 _Of course_ Jack was the one to bring out the fucking whiskey. Then they kept talking and drinking and...

Rhys stared down at the wet spot - or, technically more dry now, but still visible - with mortified eyes. No...he _didn’t_. Oh god, no, no, no, no, he didn’t do that. There’s no way...

But the evidence was right there. The memories came rushing back in complete clarity once Rhys scrambled back to his feet and headed out of the bathroom to dive for his phone on the bed, frantically looking through his contacts. 

Oh god, he and Jack...he and that complete douchebag...holy shit. 

Before he could even think about what he was doing, the phone was ringing as it was pressed up to his ear, seemingly not caring about what had originally woken him up in the first place. The knocking stopped so why the hell should he worry about that when he had much bigger issues to deal with?

“Do you even understand how _early_ it is?...Heh, now I’m repeating ya.”

“Why the fuck did we do that last night?!” Rhys screeched, not even bothering to keep himself under control.

There was a distant groan in response, leaving him to assume Jack had pulled his phone away from his ear due to Rhys’ voice. _Payback, bitch_. “Okay, first things first, cupcake. One, I may handle my alcohol better than you but that doesn’t mean I don’t get friggin’ hangovers. So _pipe down_. Two, ‘why did we do that’? Uh, funny little thing about alcohol, kiddo, it makes you do shit you wouldn’t do sober. You clearly don’t seem to understand that concept.”

“Whatever happened last night meant _nothing_. And I will _not_ go on a second date with you.” Rhys sneered, glaring off at the wall as his flesh hand clenched on his lap. 

“Meant nothin’, huh? I really doubt that, kitten. Especially with the way you were moaning my name ooover and _over_ again like a friggin’ prayer.” Oh, that smug asshole.

“You took advantage of me.”

“I was drunk too, idiot. If that’s your logic then we both took advantage of each other. At least it was mutual, eh?”

“You and I are never doing that again. _Ever_. Not drunk, not sober, not _ever_.”

Jack snorted. “Yeah, sure, keep tellin’ yourself that, kid. Now let me go the hell back to sleep.” Then, the line went dead, leaving Rhys to toss his phone onto the floor and fall back onto the mattress with a frustrated yell. Why him? Why did all of this shit have to happen to him?

“Uh...bro?”

Rhys let out an embarrassingly high pitched squawk, jolting back up into a seated position to stare at his doorway with eyes practically bulging out of his head. Vaughn was standing there, spare key in hand, eyes just as wide and startled. Had...had he been the one knocking before? Did...oh no, did he...

“How much did you hear?” Rhys whispered, awkwardly pulling his blanket over his lap to hide the spot on his jeans. His best friend just rubbed the back of his neck, looking just as uncomfortable as he felt. “Uh...all...of it?” Great. Perfect. Juuuuust great.

Rhys ended up telling him everything. And he meant _everything_. Including how Jack really was at the wedding, to which Vaughn - not surprisingly - exclaimed that he was gonna kick the asshole’s ass. But after a few long minutes of trying to calm him down, Rhys was able to tell the rest of the story without worrying that he’d bolt and find Jack himself. He continued to tell him what happened last night and all of Jack’s confessions, which he didn’t go into any detail about. It was private, Rhys understood that. And he did also vaguely describe the...not so pleasant details from last night. Vaughn looked like he was about to puke.

“So...lemme get this straight. He strangles you, dumps you in the ocean, continues to threaten and do shit to you...and then after just some confessions and one apology, you end up fucking him?” Vaughn was staring at him like he was completely insane. And yeah, he probably was at this point.

“Okay, we didn’t _fuck_. Nothing was...y’know, taken out or...inserted or...yeah. Just kinda ground against each other and-”

“Okay, okay, okay, please don’t say anything else about that. Or else I’m pretty sure I’m gonna puke all over your bed. I just...what the hell are you doing, bro? This guy could’ve killed you and he probably still can. I don’t...I really don’t get it.” With a shake of his head, Vaughn sighed, offering his friend an apologetic look. 

Rhys just shrugged, leaning over to grab his phone from the floor with a huff. “I don’t get it either. But...don’t you think if he wanted to kill me, he would have done it when I was drunk? It’s like...the perfect opportunity.” 

“I guess...” Vaughn continued on but Rhys wasn’t listening anymore. 

His heart sank as soon as he opened up a new text from Tim (saved as ‘TimTams <3’ in his phone). 

_i never got the chance to say this but im sorry about kissing you that day. it was just in the heat of the moment, i swear it didnt mean anything. axton said i was acting weird around you and...i guess thats why. i feel bad, rhys. but i hope we can get past this and go back to normal, yeah? see ya tomorrow, kid :)_

Rhys couldn’t even bring himself to reply back. There was a dull ache in his chest that he just _hated_. Wasn’t this a good thing? Just friends, nothing more. It was better to just be friends instead of...whatever they could be if they both...liked each other? Did...did Rhys like him? No. No, he couldn’t. That was his best friend. And Tim clearly didn’t like him, at least not in that way. Maybe it was better this way. Yeah, it’s better that way.

So, why did it still hurt?

“Bro...you okay?”

The concern in Vaughn’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He gave a shaky smile and just nodded, though it was clear that nothing was okay. “Yeah, yeah. Um...hey, how about you call Sash and Fi? We can go to IHOP or something. Tell them I’ll pay.” He could tell Vaughn wanted to push the ‘are you okay’ subject but he didn’t. Thankfully. Instead, he just nodded in return and got back onto his feet to go back out into the living room.

Meanwhile, Rhys started going through his contacts again, flesh finger hesitantly hovering over the ‘ _Handsome Asshole_ ’ just staring at him. Taunting him. Begging him to press it and call him again. He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. Jack was bad news. With Jack, he never knew what the hell was going to happen. It was bad, it was dangerous...but why did that make him want to do it even more?

“Kid, you’re cute. You got a nice face and a damn nice ass to match. Plus, you sound real hot moaning my name. But you’re slowly getting less interesting the more you call me when I just want to _sleep_.”

“Come over tomorrow.”

There was complete silence on the other end, to the point where Rhys hesitantly added, “You...did talk about a second date on Sunday...right?”

“Uh, yeah, yeah. Just, ah...didn’t really expect ya to still wanna do it after your shouting at me earlier. But yeah. Yeah, tomorrow sounds good, kiddo. Anything ya had in mind?” A faint blush crept up on Rhys’ cheeks at his first two thoughts. But hey, he’d go with them anyway.

“Well, you, um...seemed to really like my frappuccino. Maybe I can...have you test out a couple new flavor ideas I had? And then we could maybe...have a repeat of last night but... _better_.” He put emphasis on the last word, hoping Jack would understand what he was implying.

And judging by the low groan, he definitely understood. “Shit, Rhysie, if I didn’t have a hangover, I’d go over there right now and fuck you into next week. But y’know, I do have a hangover and they’re a friggin’ bitch to deal with. Plus, I have to get Angel ready to spend the week with her mother...shit, I might as well get up now, friggin’ hell.” Rhys was surprised to hear Jack talk about Angel so casually. But he took that as a good sign. That...could be a good sign, right?

“Anyway, I might as well get ready and shit. Just keep this in mind until tomorrow, kitten.” There was a short pause that almost made Rhys squirm in anticipation.

“Your ass is mine tomorrow. And oh, you are gonna be _screaming_ by the time I’m done with you.” Rhys’ traitorous cock twitched in approval at the man’s low growl, only able to let a breathy sigh leave his lips.

“I’m looking forward to it, handsome.”

***

“Rhys, you’re insane.”

“Why the hell are you going out with him again? Did you just like, black out during our whole conversation earlier?”

“Guuuuys.” Rhys whined out, burying his head into his folded arms and not even sparing the waitress a glance when she comes over to deliver their drinks. But once the smell of his coffee hits his nose, he peers up from his forearm with a dream-like sigh, extending his hands outwards to carefully cup the mug in his palms. 

“So, thought about what you’d like to order?” Fiona gladly went first, then Sasha and Vaughn. Rhys peeked up at the waitress from the rim of his mug, pulling it away from his lips just long enough to answer. “Cinnamon swirl french toast, please.” He totally wasn’t doing that to spite Tim. Not at all. Psht.

Once all of the orders were jotted down and the waitress left, Sasha finally put in her two cents. “Look, am I happy that you’re doing this? No. Am I worried about you? Yeah. But guys, this is sounding a lot like when I started dating August. Yeah, he didn’t choke me and shit but you guys kept telling me he was such an asshole and I shouldn’t do it and blah blah blah. And now?” Sasha gestured to the rose gold engagement ring adorning her finger, causing both Vaughn and Fiona to shift uncomfortably. But Rhys just grinned at her and reached over the table to give her a high five. Of all people, he knew she would be the one to understand. 

“ _Thank you_ , Sasha. Guys, I know it could be a bad idea. But he...he apologized, y’know? And he sounded sincere, even though he really hated saying it. I _promise_ I’ll completely stop seeing him if he tries to do anything to me again. I just wanna give him a chance. And I don’t even really like him that much, it’s sorta just physical attraction at this point.” Rhys’ shoulders lifted in a weak shrug, lips once again closing around the edge of his mug. A part of him really didn’t believe the last part though.

“What about Tim? You said he doesn’t know that you’re doing any of this but he totally backed you up when all the shit with Jack happened. Doesn’t that seem a little...unfair?” Fiona chose her words carefully, chewing on the tip of her straw in her tea.

Rhys grimaced at the mention of him. “We’re not...in the best place right now. I dunno, he’s just been avoiding me all week. He sent a text this morning apologizing but...” He trailed off, unsure of what else to say. He didn’t want any of them to know about their kiss. Or...kisses. That would just make things a hell of a lot more awkward. “If something serious happens with Jack and I then yeah, I’ll tell him. But now, I don’t even know if these dates are even real or just...trying to help out the fake relationship thing somehow. Plus, why do I have to be the one to tell him? He’s Jack’s brother, Jack could easily tell him too. It’s not my job to do it.” Right?

“I guess...just think of him too, okay?” Rhys just uttered a soft ‘I will’ before focusing back on his coffee. He didn’t care if it was practically burning his tongue. It was way too early for him to be up and he needed some damn coffee. Without it, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to handle anything that’s happened today.

“Anyway, how’s work been going, Fi? Mind if I ask for a commission?” Rhys leaned forward on his elbows once he set down his coffee for the first time since he got it, a bright grin on his lips.

“Uh...sure? What is it?” Fiona leaned back in her chair, arms crossing over her chest as she balanced on just the two back legs of the chair.

Rhys pulled his phone out of his pocket to bring up his texts between him and Alice. After scrolling through a bit, he tapped on the photo she sent him of the finished peony tattoo and showed it to Fiona. “I never got to give her a wedding gift. Apparently Nick really loved the tattoo so I was thinking you could do a painting like that, with the purple and white peony thing and do a whole bouquet of them. In your style, of course. Think you can do that?” Fiona leaned in across the table to take a better look at the picture, thoroughly looking it over for a moment before nodding.

“Totally. $30, okay? You’re my friend so I’m giving you a discount. But I also have bills to pay and food to eat so I’m not doing it for free.” Rhys snorted, turning his phone off and tucking it back into his pocket. “That’s fine, Fi. I can...whaaaaat are you doing?” He blinked at his friend across from the table, who had begun staring at him with a big grin before she covered her mouth to poorly hide her snickers.

“I guess Vaughn didn’t have the heart to tell you about your neck.” Rhys’ eyes widened into saucers, Sasha gasping across the table once she saw what Fiona was talking about. She dug into her purse to pull out her compact mirror and flash it towards Rhys, who leaned in to look at his neck. A hand came up to clasp over his mouth at the mere sight, muffling the mortified sound that came out.

His throat was _littered_ with hickies dark enough to look almost painful. There was one in particular that had a very clear outline of teeth marks. _That_ got him blushing almost beet red as he turned to Vaughn with an incredulous look, hand lowering from his mouth to whine. “You knew?” His hands started trying to pull up the collar of his jacket, head tipping forward to try to hide the marks from sight while Vaughn stammered at him.

“I-I-I just...it’s just...it’s hard to tell your bro that they’re covered in hickies, okay?”

Rhys needed a turtleneck. And he needed one quick.

***

It’s not that Jack _hated_ his ex-wife. They tolerated each other perfectly fine. But how was he to say no to Angel when she just _begged_ for the cereal with the most sugar _and_ wanted to finish the rest of the cookies her precious uncle Tim made the other day.

By the time noon came around, she was so hyper she was practically vibrating. His patience was already starting to slowly dwindle away, but hey, it would be her mother’s problem in just another couple hours. 

“Why were you late last night, dad?”

“Huh? Oh, c’mon, I wasn’t that late.”

“You got home at 1am.” 

Jack’s lips quirked up into an amused smile. Nothing ever got past her. She was always too smart - and too sneaky - for her own good. “I was just finishing some stuff up at work, baby. Got some new furniture coming in next week and I had to take some measurements.” The first part was true. The furniture in the waiting area were just a bit too...old-fashioned for his taste. So, he had Athena put in an order for some nicer, more modern couches, chairs and so on. However, he definitely didn’t take any measurements since he was a bit more...preoccupied. 

It had been so easy to get the kid comfortable with him, even before the alcohol came into play. Rhys was naive, that much was clear. One little apology, a couple life stories and then Jack could do whatever the hell he wanted with him. And he did just that. The kid was more than willing to have a bit of fun. He did whatever Jack wanted, said his name when he told him to, shut up with just a finger to the mouth, it was just so _easy_. 

But as much as he loved it and will probably continue to do it (because he _really_ wanted to see if Rhys was that easy even without any alcohol in him), the thought of someone doing that Angel just rubbed him the wrong way. Yeah, he knew she was smart enough to never let that kind of shit happen to her but still. He knew there were guys out there like...well, like him. More than willing to have someone bend to their will, to do what they say without question, without putting up a fight. There are guys at there that would do shit like that just to get back at their friggin’ brother.

“Shit.” Jack muttered under his breath as he sunk back into the couch, one hand coming up to rub at the side of his face. Since when did he feel bad about this kind of shit? He didn’t feel bad when he had his hands around Nisha’s throat, squeezing until she was unconscious. But now, thinking about the same thing happening to Angel...shit, it made him sick to his stomach. 

Maybe his plan was stupid. Hell, he _knew_ it was stupid. Yeah, trying to make some dumb kid fall for him because Tim was a friggin’ asshole and told Nisha what he did was...yeah, stupid when it’s put like that. Alright, fine. Maybe he wouldn’t _make_ Rhys fall for him. But a part of him still wanted to do everything tomorrow. Because aside from learning the kid was a complete lightweight and completely naive, he was actually kinda...cute. And even mildly interesting. He’d never, ever admit that Tim could’ve been right but yeah, once Jack stopped trying to strangle him, Rhys seemed like an interesting kid. His life stories were actually fun to listen to. He particularly liked the one about punching that bastard in the face.

It proved that the kid did have some fight in him, that he wasn’t just some pretty, submissive face. Honestly, Jack preferred that than him just being completely submissive. 

“Daaaaaad, can I go to work with you one of these days?” Jack blinked at his daughter, eyebrows arching in surprise. “Since when are you interested in going to work with me?”

Angel shrugged at him, eyes never leaving the TV screen and hands never leaving her controller. “I think it’d be fun. I want you to give me my first tattoo when I’m older too. Wouldn’t that be cool?” Pausing her game, Angel finally turned her head to look at her father with the brightest of smiles. 

Jack’s heart couldn’t help but swell at that. It was rare that Angel actually wanted to do stuff with him these days, which he blamed on her age now. He had no idea how to connect with her. When she was younger, it was easy. Dolls, sports and sweets. But now? She had so many other interests that he just couldn’t keep up with. Now, he realized they could at least connect over his work. And that was good enough for him.

“Of course I can do that, sweetheart. Now,” He scooted across the couch to wrap an arm around her, nodding his head toward the screen with a warm smile. “how about you show me how to play this game before you leave, huh?”

And his daughter was more than happy to oblige.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was mainly just a filler chapter to prepare for the absolute shameless smut in the next chapter. And yes, Tim is clearly fucking everything up for himself but this is not the end of Rhysothy, I will tell you that!


	7. Date With the Devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Feel. So. Bad.
> 
> I was having such a writer's block this past month that I only recently resolved by doing a bit of handwritten work. I know I promised lots of sin in the last chapter but one, I really wanted to get a chapter out as soon as possible. And two, I thought it would be better to save all of the sin for just one chapter on its own. So, this chapter may be a bit shorter than some of my others but there will be sin in the next to make up for it <3
> 
> Once again, I really apologize for neglecting like...all of my fics lately. I tend to have huge bursts of energy where I'll write non-stop but then it ends up wearing me out and that's when the writer's block happens. Hopefully it's gone for now so I can get back to updating all of my stuff. Thank you guys for staying so patient with me <3
> 
> My Tumblr (come say hi, guys!) ~ hancock4prez.tumblr.com ~

Sunday came quick. It felt like one second, Rhys was working out timing details with Jack (while desperately trying to avoid the man’s occasional sexual comments) and now he was growling at his closet as he tried to figure out what the hell to wear. Yeah, he didn’t have to really dress up or anything. Especially considering they were just hanging out at his apartment. But he _did_ want to look at least a little fuckable. Was that too much to ask for?

The lack of ‘fuckable’ type clothes in his closet said yes.

Had it really been that long since he was intimate or tried to be intimate with...well, anyone? God, Jack was gonna just rip him apart in more ways than one, he just knew it.

“Aha!” Rhys exclaimed as he dug out his box of random shit from college, pulling it down from the top shelf in his closet to bring it over to the bed and set it down. Books, books, more books, t-shirts...hah! Oh. 

Mismatched eyes went wide when he pulled out a pair of black shorts from the very bottom. He had gotten them more so as a joke during his second year. They were women’s shorts - booty shorts, to be more specific - with the name of the university’s mascot across the back. Let’s just say Rhys was a lot...skinnier, back then. And the shorts had been not as tight-fitting as they probably should have been, which he was fine with. But now...

He tried to glance back at his ass with an unsure ‘uhhh’. He was positive they would fit now but...maybe a little too well? No, what was he saying? If he was trying to look at least a little bit fuckable, there was no such thing as ‘fitting too well’. They both made it clear what their intentions were for today. There was absolutely no point in Rhys getting shy now. 

And so, he just went with it, changing out of his pajamas and pulling on the shorts that _just_ barely fit over his ass. His ass wasn’t even that big but hey, he wasn’t gonna start complaining now. His favorite grey knit sweater followed soon after, which somewhat helped cover up his crotch. Because yes. He was going commando. Less clothes to take off, right? Plus, he definitely didn’t have any underwear that were short enough to not peek through the shorts. So, commando it was.

Once 12pm rolled around, Rhys was just finishing up setting everything out for the frappuccinos. He was probably more nervous for Jack’s opinion on the drinks rather than the eventual sex. These were a couple ideas he had for a while now but had been too nervous to actually try them out in fear that they wouldn’t work out well. Jack would be his test subject, for lack of better words. Oh god, what if the drinks end up being so bad that Jack wouldn’t want to fuck him? No, he’s being stupid. He really doubted anything would keep Jack from trying to get into his pants. 

The sound of the doorbell ringing made him jump and nearly spill the blueberry syrup all over the floor. “Calm down, Rhys. You’ve got this.” Rhys murmured to himself as he set the syrup down on the counter and spun around to make his way out into the living room. The closer he got to the door, the more nervous he got. _I can do this, I can do this._ His mechanical hand rested on the doorknob, hesitating for a moment before opening up the door and flashing a shy smile at the still unbelievably handsome man on the other side.

“Damn.” Jack uttered as his heterochromatic eyes unabashedly took in Rhys’ form in front of him. Such obvious attention on him made Rhys shift on his feet, suddenly feeling awkward. “Never really realized how goddamn leggy you are. You shave too, huh? That’s friggin’ cute. But I think I like it.” This guy was gonna be the death of him. But in a good way now. Hopefully. 

As soon as Jack reached out to grab his hips, Rhys stepped back, a coy smile on his lips once he finally mustered up some bit of confidence. “Nuh uh. Drinks first. Then touching.” Offering the older man a playful wink before he turned back around to lead him into the kitchen. He could have sworn he heard a faint ‘holy shit’ once he turned his back to him, but he may have just been imagining things. That didn’t stop his confidence from growing though. 

“Soooo, what’re ya gonna be makin’ for me today, pumpkin?” Before, Rhys would have hated the constant nicknames. Hell, he did hate the constant nicknames. But he was growing used to them now, to the point where they even made him start to smile.

“Blueberry muffin frap and a mint chocolate frap. Sound good?” Rhys glanced over his shoulder, catching the tail end of Jack’s blatant stare at his ass before his eyes flickered up to Rhys’ face.

“Uh. Yeah. Yeah, those sound really good, actually. Tried not to have any coffee today to prepare myself.” Jack gave him a wide grin that made Rhys weak in the knees. Yeah, this guy was definitely gonna be the death of him.

Once they got into the kitchen, Jack perched himself against the edge of the table while Rhys got to work. They continued to chat all the while, keeping their conversations surprisingly ‘sex talk’ free. Rhys enjoyed it. It was the same as the night they spent at Stallion. He actually got to see _Jack_ , the Jack underneath all of the assholeness. That Jack is actually pretty cool. Until he started talking about a couple stories from when he and Tim were kids.

Rhys wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t feel bad. Yeah, Tim should probably know what was going on between him and Jack. But on the other hand...he was still mildly hurt about the text Tim sent him yesterday. He knew he obviously shouldn’t be, especially if he was sort of seeing his older brother. He just...hated knowing that the kiss meant nothing to him.

“Jack...will you promise not to hate me if I tell you something?” Rhys stopped what he was doing for a moment to turn and face him, robotic hand awkwardly toying with the hem of his sweater.

“Well, considering I already kinda hate ya anyway, I don’t think anything you tell me will change much. So, shoot.” Rhys rolled his eyes at him, a soft huff leaving his lips before he fell silent. It was a struggle trying to figure out how to explain everything that happened with Tim but...he might as well just try.

“The night of the wedding, when I called Tim and he came over...he was really sweet to me, Jack. More so than usual, that is. We got pizza and had a couple beers and stuff and...I kinda kissed him before I passed out.”

“Uh...so? You were friggin’ tipsy, kid. Maybe even totally drunk, judging by how freaking low your tolerance is.”

“Just...just wait, okay? When I woke up, he had made breakfast and everything and I made a joke about how he should start selling his french toast at the shop. Well, apparently he was already thinking about hiring me anyway and when I said yes, he said that ‘I could just kiss you’ kinda thing and...y’know, he did. And it was great, Jack. I really...really liked it and I thought...” Rhys ended up trailing off, rubbing at the back of his neck with his flesh hand. “I thought he liked it too. But then, like I told you before, he ended up distancing himself from me and pretty much ignoring me and then yesterday he told me the kiss meant nothing and...I don’t really know why I’m telling you this, I really shouldn’t be. I’m sorry.” He chuckled, making a move to turn back around before Jack was suddenly in front of him in two long strides, large hands wrapping perfectly around his wrists to keep him still. A familiar fear started to take over, the little voice in the back of his head screaming at him that Jack was going to hurt him.

But nothing of the sort came. No insults, no pain, nothing. He was just met with an almost...amused look on Jack’s face.

“Don’t apologize for that kind of shit. Y’know, I’m actually glad you told me. I was starting to think my little brother had a bit of a crush on ya. Thought I was gonna have some competition.” Rhys hated the way his heart fluttered at Jack referring to Tim as ‘competition’, as if Rhys was something to fight over. 

“Now,” Jack was leaning in, hands releasing his wrists to go to his hips instead, thick fingers sneaking under Rhys’ sweater and gliding back to press against his lower back. With one gentle pull, Rhys was pressed up against his broad chest, hands hesitantly resting over Jack’s shoulders. Noses were soon nudging against each other, breath mingling together as Jack’s lips parted to murmur. “want me to show you what a _real_ kiss is like?”

Before he could even think about it, Rhys was nodding almost frantically. That seemed to be all the encouragement Jack needed to close the distance between them. Rhys felt teeth sinking into his lower lip, practically pulling him in before Jack’s lips closed around it. It was startling how...almost gentle he was. The first time they had kissed, it was rough, almost brutal. The second was a sloppy, drunken kiss. But this was a goddamn _kiss_. The tip of Jack’s tongue began to drag across his lips, coaxing them to open for him. And he spent no time complying, his lips parting against the older man’s as if he were commanded to do so. Hell, he might as well have. He was absolute putty in his hands and they both knew that damn well.

As soon as the pink muscle slipped past his borders, Rhys’ hands were moving, taking their time sliding up the back of Jack’s neck before they settled into his hair. Fingers curled around the grey and brunet locks, holding on tight but not painfully so. Just tight enough to hear the satisfied growl that rumbled in Jack’s chest. Meanwhile, their tongues danced in an addicting push and pull for dominance. Nothing was forced. Rhys half expected Jack to just shove his tongue down his throat, but he didn’t. There was a perfect balance between them and for the first time, he felt...equal with this man.

All they did was explore. Tongues explored the caverns of each other’s mouths, hands explored each other’s bodies. Jack’s hands traveled further up his bare back, pushing his sweater up his torso in the process. Rhys’ hands left Jack’s hair to smooth out over his broad shoulders, squeezing experimentally as if to test if they really were as strong as they looked (they totally were). They then drifted down to his chest, both flesh and mechanical fingers grasping at the front of his own sweater. And just as Rhys was about to completely break and say ‘fuck the goddamn drinks’, Jack’s lips were leaving his own. Oh god, he just whined, didn’t he? He’s so pathetic.

“Y’know, I’d love to continue this, kitten. But let’s put it this way,” Rhys felt lips pressing against his jaw, leaving faint pecks and nips in their wake. How the hell was he still standing? “me plus coffee equals more than one round of whatever the hell you want to do.” There was no way he would be walking straight after today. And that was perfectly fine with him.

With one last peck to his cheek, Jack took a step back to allow Rhys to go back to making the drinks. The younger man offered a shy smile before turning back to the counter and hastily trying to finish up. Because the quicker all the drinks were made, the quicker they could continue. All the while, Jack continued on with their conversations as if he hadn’t just nearly kissed him silly. 

“Alright, just...be honest with me, okay? I’ve been planning them out for a while now but I’ve never actually made them before.” Rhys flashed a sheepish smile as he went over to the table to set down both finished drinks, trying desperately not to blush at Jack’s focus on his ass but failing miserably. He really wasn’t used to all of the attention. Not _that_ way.

“Quit your worryin’, they look fine to me.” Jack waved a hand dismissively, continuing to lean against the table as he twisted his upper half to grab the closest drink. “What was this again? Blueberry somethin’?” Rhys only nodded, eyes glued to Jack as he settled himself at his side. Mechanical fingers awkwardly tugged at the hem of his sweater, anxiously waiting for Jack’s feedback. He didn’t even know why he was so nervous. Whether it was the fact that _Jack_ was tasting his drinks and judging them or the fact that he had no idea how these were even going to turn out.

Rhys tried to make it not as obvious that he was staring when Jack wrapped his lips around the straw placed in the glass. But judging by the older man’s smirk, he was terrible at hiding it. Once clearly caught, he tried to focus on the drink instead. The drink. _Not_ the extremely dirty thoughts of Jack’s lips around his...sucking...and...oh god, he really needed to stop. _Just a little longer_ , he had to remind himself. Just a little bit longer and then they could do whatever the hell they wanted. And what he really wanted was to be pounded into the mattress and-

 _Rhys, you’re such a whore_ , the little voice in the back of his head told him.

“Holy... _shit_ , how the hell did you do this?” Rhys jumped slightly at Jack’s exclamation, eyes suddenly wide. He had been expecting a negative response, because he usually tried to prepare himself for the worst in these situations. But Jack actually sounded...pleased. The older man just stared at him as if he had sprouted a second head, completely shocked. “How do you even get it to taste like this? I knew you were good at making coffee but damn.” Jack silenced himself by taking another long sip of the frappuccino.

Rhys was overwhelmed with pride. He was positive he hadn’t felt this was since he got a near perfect GPA in high school. Was it bad that he hadn’t felt this proud since then? Probably.

“Gimme.” Rhys half-heartedly demanded, his flesh hand reaching out to take the straw between his middle and forefinger. He pulled the straw towards him and leaned in to take a all too excited sip. Unfortunately, the surprisingly accurate - and fucking delicious - taste of the blueberry muffin frap wasn’t enough to keep him from glancing up, noticing Jack’s eyes watching his mouth almost hungrily. He couldn’t help but feel a bit smug when he assumed Jack was imagining what Rhys had been thinking earlier. Clearly, neither of them had much self control.

Before the man had any more time to fantasize about him, Rhys pulled away from the straw with a pleased grin. “I didn’t think it’d turn out so good. The key is getting the right spices. And the right balance of flavors and...” He trailed off, feeling almost embarrassed to nerd out over this kind of stuff. But thankfully, Jack didn’t really seem to mind. He was already focused on the last drink Rhys had made. 

“What was this shit again?” Jack didn’t even wait for Rhys to actually answer him before his lips returned to the straw. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at how impatient he was, reaching out to take the first drink out of Jack’s other hand. It was a good sign...probably. Jack either really enjoyed his drinks or _really_ wanted to get it all over with so he could get Rhys in bed. Rhys concluded that he would be flattered either way.

“Mint chocolate. With some crumbled up thin mints mixed in.” While Jack was busy groaning in approval at the description of the drink, Rhys decided to drink a bit more of the blueberry one. It really did turn out a lot better than he had expected. Maybe it was time to convince Tim to let him start making drinks. 

Rhys frowned at that. No, now wasn’t the time to think of him. The whole reason why Jack was at his place right now was so he could take his mind _off_ of Tim. Which probably seemed pretty weird to anyone else. Using Tim’s older brother, who looks almost exactly like him, to take his mind off of him? Okay, maybe he didn’t think it through that well. 

But Jack was different from Tim. Yeah, sure, they looked almost exactly alike but their personalities were so different. Rhys learned that as soon as he first met Jack. Ugh, how the hell did he go from loathing the asshole to going on a date with him? And why the hell did he decide that _now_ was the time to look back on his life decisions? Then again, was there ever a good time to think back on life decisions? Wait, was Jack talking to him? Oh god, Jack was talking to him.

Blinking out of his thoughts, Rhys stared at the elder man beside him in confusion. “S-Sorry...what did you say?” Rhys frowned and whined at Jack as he reached over to flick Rhys on the tip of the nose, most likely as a punishment for not listening to him.

“I said it’s damn good, cupcake. Dunno why TimTams didn’t have you making drinks right off the bat, coulda brought in a shit ton more customers.” Oh, Rhys hated how good Jack’s praise made him feel. Was he just saying that to get in his pants? No, Jack seemed to really enjoy the drinks. But even if he was just saying it to get in his pants, it was definitely working.

Rhys didn’t even reply. All he did was reach over to take the glass out of Jack’s hands - to which Jack practically whined at him in protest - and set it aside. Before Jack had the chance to protest any further, Rhys was leaning over to press his lips to his sharp jaw. He steadied himself with his hands on Jack’s thighs as slow, open-mouthed kisses were placed on his skin. In an instant, large hands were at his hips, gripping them tight with seemingly every intent to leave their mark. And hell, Rhys couldn’t even be bothered to care. Right now, the more marks Jack left on his skin, the better. He wanted Jack to make him forget everything with Tim. And getting fucked senseless sounded like the best way to do that.

Before he knew it, Rhys was being hauled up into Jack’s arms, long legs locked around the older man’s waist and his fingers buried into his gray streaked hair. The way Jack kissed was yet again, very different than the other times. This kiss was more passionate, intended to leave Rhys completely breathless by the time they pulled away. And it didn’t seem like they were going to pull away any time soon. Even as they roughly bumped against doors and walls trying to find their way into Rhys’ bedroom, Jack’s lips never left his, Jack’s tongue never stopped exploring the cavern of Rhys’ mouth. 

Timothy? Timothy, who? The only person Rhys knew at the moment was Jack. And that was exactly the way he wanted it.


	8. Accidents Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS. GUYS. GUYS. GUYS. Okay, I fucking finished this, holy shit I'm so happy. I was only halfway done with it when I had my massive anxiety attack and it's been months since I've even written anything. But over the past few days, I've actually gotten my strength back to write again and you better believe this love triangle was the first thing I wanted to update. So, here you go! Sex and life changing accidents. You are welcome. I'm so looking forward to seeing all of your comments after all this time being away <3
> 
> ~Follow my Tumblr and come say hi! [hancock4prez.tumblr.com](http://hancock4prez.tumblr.com)~

Rhys wasn’t sure how much time had passed after Jack had tossed him onto the bed. Everything had been a complete blur. Skin against skin, Rhys’ lips on Jack’s, Jack’s lips on his neck, it was all making his head spin in the most pleasant way possible. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had done this. The thick digits slowly stretching him out were enough to tell him that yeah, it had been a _long_ time. Not that Jack seemed to mind at all though.

“So friggin’ _tight_. Bet you’re gonna feel damn good around my cock.” All Rhys could do was moan out in response, his face buried into the pillow and partially muffling his unabashed sounds. Hearing someone talk so dirty to him was something Rhys only thought was possible in his fantasies. Never once did he think that there were real people out there that really did that. God, he was going crazy already. Would cumming too quick be bad? Probably. 

Rhys’ hips rolled back towards Jack’s fingers, forcing them in deeper as the older man stretched him open without a single ounce of mercy. When the hell did Jack add a third finger and how the hell did it feel so damn good? Before he had a chance to actually think about it, a large hand was fisting itself into his hair, tugging his head back with enough force to let out a choked out sound. Lips were at his ear, biting down hard enough that Rhys couldn’t help but whimper. But it felt so damn _good_.

“Such a goddamn tease, in those damn shorts of yours. I’m gonna freaking _wreck_ you, you got that?” Rhys wasn’t even sure if he was supposed to reply. But he still awkwardly nodded as much as he could with the hand still in his hair. If he even tried to use his voice, there was no doubt it would come out sounding pathetic. Getting wrecked and fucked senseless was exactly what he wanted right now. And who better to fulfill that need than the asshole that had previously tried to fuck up his life? Rhys really needed to take a moment one of these days and really think about his life decisions.

Now wasn’t that moment though. Hell, thinking was getting difficult with how relentless the thrusts of Jack’s fingers were. Rhys found himself clutching at the bedsheets as he whined and pushed his hips back, his head falling back onto the pillow with a soft ‘thud’ once Jack released his hold on his hair. And oh, he was so close to losing his shit when Jack’s fingers slowly withdrew from his stretched opening. It was feeling so _good_. How dare-oh. _Oh_.

Rhys never thought the sound of a belt undoing would be so exciting. There was no doubt of what was coming. Yet that damn asshole was still able to surprise him. Instead of just tossing the belt aside like Rhys thought he would, his hands were suddenly being pried away from their grip on the sheets. Rhys glanced back at just the right moment when the belt was being looped around his wrists, the leather end sliding through the buckle and pulled taut until it bit into the skin of his flesh wrist. To say he was shocked was a total understatement. Sure, he enjoyed the idea of all things bondage related but he had never been lucky enough to actually experience it first hand. 

Then there was a nagging thought in the back of Rhys’ mind. Did he really trust Jack enough to bind his wrists like that? One tug against the belt with his robotic hand comforted him a bit. If he really needed to, he could break free using that hand. Plus...there was just _something_ about Jack. Rhys noticed it the night of the wedding. It was that...thrill of never knowing what in the world Jack would do next. Using the belt on him proved that too. There was just this small little adrenaline rush he got whenever he was around him, the one that said ‘This man is probably dangerous but that’s what makes this so exciting’. The things he probably _should_ be concerned about - like being bound and practically defenseless - were things that only made him even more excited. How the hell was Jack able to do that to him so easily?

And _finally_ there was the familiar sound of the cap of a bottle of lube snapping open. Rhys tried to look back over his shoulder to watch in anticipation but a large hand pressed to the back of his head, shoving his head back down and pinning him to the mattress. “Ah, ah. It’s better when you don’t know when it’s coming, don’t’cha think?” Rhys rolled his eyes but decided to keep his mouth shut. It’s not like Jack was wrong. Still, he did get _slightly_ pouty that he couldn’t watch.

“I’m gonna wipe that pout off your face real quick, princess.” A sassy response was on the tip of Rhys’ tongue. But it was quickly forgotten and replaced by a shaky moan as the tip of Jack’s cock rubbed against the tight ring of muscles between his cheeks. He felt _big_. Which only made Rhys want to pout even more because he couldn’t fucking see it. And Jack teasing him with it didn’t make things any better.

“Just fucking fuck me alread-ahh!”

***

With a snap of his hips, Jack buried himself deep into Rhys’ heat. Sure, he could’ve gone a bit easier on the kid. Who knows how long it’s been since he last got fucked? Jack knew the kid could take it though. Rhys seemed so goddamn desperate, Jack really doubted he would let a little pain get in the way of that. And who knows? Maybe the kid liked a bit of pain mixed in with his pleasure. Well, that’s what Jack hoped, at least. Rhys sure seemed to enjoy it when they had their drunken fun before, all the biting and hair pulling. Surely he was a sucker for a bit of pain, right?

“ _Jack_...” Oh, Rhys was an absolute tease. Whimpering his name like that, making him want to devour him whole. Did this twink even understand how little self control he had around him? God, he was just so _tempting_. While Jack had originally had intentions of holding back at least a little bit today, those plans were quickly tossed out the window as soon as Rhys glanced back over his shoulder. Dark eyes partially covered by his lowered lids, lips parted ever so slightly and looking like something out of a goddamn porno. 

Yeah, fuck self control.

With a low grunt, Jack pulled his hips back until the tip of his cock was just barely left inside of Rhys’ surprisingly addicting heat. Jack couldn’t even be bothered to tease the little minx. Instead, both hands grasped onto those pale hips and thrusted his own hips forward again. And oh, that tore the most _delicious_ moan from Rhys’ lips. Determined to hear that sound as much as possible, he repeated the action until Rhys was a writhing mess underneath him. Damn, that was a hot sight.

Rhys himself was...a pretty hot sight in general. In a way, that pissed Jack off. He hated this kid’s guts even before he met him. After Nisha convinced him to do the stupid fake date shit, all he could think about was how pathetic this guy must’ve been. Really, why couldn’t he just man the fuck up and tell his family he lied about having a damn boyfriend? And boy, meeting Rhys did nothing to help how much he was already annoyed with him. The kid was ballsy, had a mouth on him. Looked pretty decent but damn, his attitude just rubbed him the wrong way. The times where Rhys talked back just...shit, it pissed him off. No one ever dared to talk back to him. Except Nish and Tim. But everyone else was friggin’ smart enough to keep their damn opinions to themselves.

Then it all really started to change. The kid got _bold_. That time in the coffee shop just proved that he wasn’t like everyone else. At first, that really, _really_ pissed Jack off and he was damn determined to change that, to break Rhys down all over again and wipe that damn cocky smirk off his face. But the past couple days, he just couldn’t help but think about this kid. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Rhys not being totally submissive to him was...actually a nice change for once. Ever since thinking that, all of his plans about making Rhys fall for him so he could want him and only him...just sounded stupid. But at the same time...it sounded friggin’ great. Having Rhys all to himself, bringing him over to the shop for lunch and hearing about all his stupid little stories and... _fuck_ , what was wrong with him?

“Uh...Jack? Why are you looking at me like that?” Once Rhys’ voice dragged Jack out of his own thoughts, he focused in on the confused look on the kid’s face as he looked back over his shoulder. Gritting his teeth together, Jack fought off the embarrassment from thinking about whatever the hell stupid face he was probably making and removed one hand from Rhys’ hip to shove his head back down into the mattress. With Rhys’ face now completely hidden from his own, Jack grumbled under his breath and started back up again. When the hell did he even stop? Shit.

“Shut up and go back to moaning like a whore.” Jack could’ve sworn he heard a muffled and very amused huff, but decided to put all of his annoyance into pounding into the lithe body beneath him. In just seconds, the two fell back into their rhythm of Jack snapping his hips forward and Rhys pushing his own hips back with a series of absolutely sinful sounds. But it wasn’t long before Jack was finding himself losing his concentration again. However, this time, he was annoyed with Rhys’ skin. It was far too pale, the only color being where the imprints of his fingers had been on his hips.

Oh, he was gonna have to change this.

Large hands moved to Rhys’ sides instead, now giving the younger full control over his own hips. To which he quickly took advantage of and began rocking his hips back with much more force. God, this kid was gonna be the death of him.

A low growl rumbled against Jack’s throat as his fingers curled inwards, nails biting into Rhys’ skin as they dragged downwards. Raised, angry red lines were left in their wake, contrasting perfectly with the rest of his ivory skin. Not only was Jack rewarded with such a pleasing sight, but he was also rewarded with a guttural groan and three words that nearly had Jack climaxing on the spot.

“Do that again.”

***

What the hell had gotten into him? What the _hell_? First, he was laying here, moaning like a total whore and moving his hips in ways he would only move them in private, on his own. And now he was here, sides stinging like a _bitch_ and actually asking...no, practically demanding Jack to do it again? Rhys didn’t know what the hell it was about Jack but there was just...something about him that brought out a side of him that Rhys didn’t even know himself. He didn’t know he liked, ah...’pain’ this much. He didn’t know he would actually enjoy being bound and defenseless. He didn’t...he didn’t even know he would enjoy doing these things with _Jack Lawrence_.

But fuck, he really enjoyed it. And he enjoyed it even more when Jack’s nails came back down to his hips, digging into the skin so hard that Rhys was sure they were close to breaking the skin. He didn’t even have the chance to express his complete approval of the harsh sting that radiated around his hips. All that was able to leave his mouth was a muffled gasp as teeth suddenly sank into his nape, sending sparks of pleasure across his whole body. Though, he wasn’t entirely sure what was more pleasurable. The actual feeling of Jack’s teeth against his skin or the sudden realization that the infamous Jack Lawrence was _claiming_ him. If Rhys was standing up, there was no doubt his knees would’ve given out at that sole thought.

♪ _You think that all your time is used...too busy earnin’_ ♪

Blinking in confusion, Rhys lifted his head as soon as Jack pulled away from his neck. His eyes went straight for his phone that was laying beside the pillow. 

“Tim.” The name was murmured under his breath as he stared at the picture of Tim on the dimly lit screen. God, he had really been enjoying himself until he just _had_ to call. Why the hell was he calling anyway? Why the hell...

“Shh.” Rhys tore his gaze away from the phone as soon as Jack started to shush him, one of his large hands smoothing down his side as if to calm him down. Fuck, he must’ve been making a face. It must’ve been stupidly obvious that one phone call from Tim completely changed his mood. But it didn’t seem like Jack was going to let that happen for long. One particularly harsh thrust was proof of that, a thrust hard enough to push his hips down into the mattress, causing his extremely neglected length to rub against the sheets. Okay, _that_ felt good.

Seemingly satisfied by Rhys’ whimper of approval, Jack leaned back in to graze his teeth along the shell of his ear while he continued the new, far more rough pace. “Just don’t answer and focus on what I’m doing to you. Got it?” Despite the gruff, demanding tone Jack took, Rhys felt almost...happy that he didn’t want him to get too caught up in Tim and to only focus on him. And Rhys was...oddly fine with doing just that and putting all of his attention on Jack instead.

Shaky, bound hands lifted to blindly reach for his phone, feeling little to no guilt for declining Timothy’s call to...well...go back to enjoying fucking his older brother.

***

Tim had just wanted to check up on the kid. Sending that text hadn’t exactly been easy for him, he hated lying to Rhys but...he was so goddamn worried that whatever the hell he felt for the kid would get in the way of their friendship. Hell, it already had. And he knew there was only a 50/50 chance that Rhys would take the text well. There was a 50/50 chance that the kiss meant something to Rhys too. Tim just...couldn’t stop thinking about how the kid felt when he read the text.

Once Rhys _finally_ answered, Tim began in an instant. “H-Hey, kiddo, I just wanted to-” He cut himself off as he listened in to the sounds coming from the other line. Breathy noises, almost...moaning? A faint blush dusted over his freckled cheeks at the thought of Rhys answering while he was...yeah. Maybe it was on accident? Maybe he should just hang up and call back later. Yeah, that sounded like a much better id-

“Ah! Fuck, _Jack_...”

“ _Oh, did I find a nice little spot there, kitten?_ ”

“Nnnn, just... _fuck_ , do it again.”

Tim could feel his blood pressure rising, blood practically boiling as he listened in pure shock. No... _no_ , there was no way Rhys was....with his brother...doing... _no_.

The conversation on the other end just continued to prove him wrong.

“ _You like that? Huh_?” The sound of a heavy smack nearly made Tim jump in surprise, jaw practically dropping to the floor. “ _Ya like that too, huh? Shit, I’m gonna have so much fun with you, kitten_.” Another smack, followed by another, and another until the sound of the smacks were drowned out by Rhys’ unabashed moans.

“J-Jack...fuck, _please_.”

“You gonna cum, princess? Gonna be a good boy and cum for daddy?”

That was when Tim hastily ended the call and tossed his phone onto the counter as if it had burned him, eyes wide as they stared at the device. He felt sick. Utterly sick to his stomach from what the hell he just listened to. He would have really preferred it if Rhys was jerking off like he had originally thought. Not fucking his _brother_. That was wrong on...so, so many levels. Jack tried to abuse the shit out of him and yet, Rhys is there with him, sounding like he was enjoying every second of it.

The text he got from Rhys this morning made a lot more sense now, saying he couldn’t come into work today but gave no answer as to why. Fuck, what the hell was wrong with that kid? After all of the shit that Jack did to him, how in the hell was he now _sleeping_ with him? He was stuck between wanting to abandon the shop, go over there and talk some sense into him. Or just...forcing himself to calm down for the time being and talk to Rhys about it tomorrow. The latter was probably the smartest decision. Especially considering he really... _really_ didn’t want to walk in on the two of them doing...ugh. That phone call was enough to haunt him for a good week. 

Rhys...really was enjoying himself, huh? With a heavy sigh, Tim forced himself to go back to mixing up the batter for the next batch of brownies. However, his mind was definitely somewhere else. Why would Rhys be there with Jack after everything that asshole did to him? What, did they somehow make up and Tim didn’t know about it? But...shit, Rhys tells him everything, why wouldn’t he... _fuck_. This was his fault, wasn’t it? He knew he had been...sort of avoiding Rhys a bit. But he didn’t know what else to do. If he stayed close to Rhys, there was no doubt he would let his emotions get the better of him and ultimately ruin their friendship. But...wait, he already apologized for that, didn’t he? Did Rhys misunderstand or something? Or maybe...maybe he wasn’t entirely crazy for thinking Rhys could have liked their kiss. That he could’ve...felt something for him too.

Ugh, then was he just trying to get him jealous or something? By sleeping with his damn brother? God, Tim just couldn’t understand this kid. There wasn’t any use in worrying about all of this now though. He needed to focus on work. Tomorrow would come soon enough and they would be able to have a good talk about what’s going on.

That is...if he doesn’t let his anger and hurt get to him.


	9. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the next few chapters may seem a little rushed _but_ it's because I'm in a slight rush to get this fic done because next month is gonna be pretty hectic with my birthday coming up. But yes! That means this fic has an official ending in sight! Currently working on the 'last' chapter now and it'll probably end after 12 or 13 chapters. But don't worry. You better believe this won't be the last you'll see of this AU. I'm excited to work on the continuations of this fic when it's all finished  <3
> 
> And on that note, enjoy!

The following morning was...surprisingly nice. When Rhys had quickly passed out after their second round, he hadn’t expected at all for Jack to still be there when he woke up. Why would he be? Their relationship was still...relatively rocky. It was sort of a ‘kind of like/kind of hate’ relationship. Rhys wasn’t even sure whether he ‘kind of liked’ Jack or ‘kind of hated’ him at this point. It was true...while before, being around Jack would make him feel tense and fearful. But now....

Now, waking up next to Jack just made his heart do backflips. Seeing Jack half asleep next to him, checking his phone...it was a surreal experience. And it surprised him how much he...really didn’t mind this situation. Waking up to Jack next to him and...ugh. Stupid.

The rest of the morning had gone pretty smoothly. Jack had to leave early to go home and get dressed before he opened up the shop while Rhys still had another hour to get ready to go to work. There had been an awkward pause before Jack left his room, just standing next to the bed like he wanted to say something. But instead, Jack had let out a sigh and leaned over to ruffle up Rhys’ hair with a comment about how he enjoyed last night. Rhys then proceeded to spend the next half hour squealing like a goddamn school girl and grinning stupidly with his face buried into his pillow. When was the last time he felt like this?

That thought had haunted him the whole drive to work. When _was_ the last time he felt like this? When was the last time he felt like he had a huge, stupid crush on someone? The fact that he couldn’t even remember just proved that this was definitely a very new feeling for him. And so goddamn complicated. Jack Lawrence. He had...a friggin’ crush on Jack Lawrence. His best friend’s brother. And his other friend’s ex. 

Now just sitting in the parking lot, staring at the steering wheel, Rhys realized just how fucked up this situation was. He had a crush on his best friend’s brother, that’s the first fucked up thing. Then Jack is Nisha’s ex, and Nisha is his good friend. _Then_ Jack was the one that seemed so tempted to beat him to a goddamn pulp the first few times they saw each other. And...the whole reason for Nisha and Jack breaking up _was_ because he had gotten...rather physical with her in a non-consensual way. Shouldn’t he be worried at all? Fuck, of course he should be worried. But there was just something about Jack that he couldn’t understand. It was just something that made Rhys want _more_ of him. Risks or no risks. 

Shaking his head, Rhys forced himself to drop the subject for the time being and think about it later. When he didn’t have to work. Rhys sighed out and stuffed his keys into his pocket along with his phone before exiting the car and _finally_ putting his attention on more important things. Like working. And making money so he could actually pay rent. 

His flesh hand ran through his gelled hair to fix it up a bit, not wanting to look _too_ much like he had a very busy night last night. Though...the way he was walking probably showed that enough. God, he was so _sore_. Jack sure as hell didn’t hold back yesterday. At the time, Rhys hadn’t minded one bit. But now, he was more than ready to just curl back up in bed covered in whatever soothing ointment he could find. 

“Hey, kid, you good? You look totally out of it today.” Rhys blinked rapidly in response to Axton’s voice as he entered the coffee shop, flashing the older man a sheepish smile. Rubbing the back of his neck, he tried his hand at making up whatever lie he could.

“Yeah, just, uh...kinda restless last night. Thought Tim was gonna be pissed at me for missing work yesterd-oh, hey, Ti-uh, Tim?” Rhys blinked as the older man appeared from behind the counter and stalked towards him, his jaw clenched and eyes furious. He tried to move away but a hand circled around his flesh wrist in an instant, grip painfully tight and unforgiving as Tim dragged him into the kitchen. “Ow! Tim, w-what the hell are you-”

“Shut up.” Rhys felt an unpleasant chill run down his spine. He had never seen his friend so pissed before. And towards _him_. He tried to tug his wrist out of his grasp, but his grip just tightened in response, forcing a pained whimper from Rhys’ lips.

Tim then spun around once they were in the middle of the kitchen, staring at him incredulously. “You’re fucking my _brother_? Of all fucking people? Why? After all the shit he did to you, why the _hell_ are you seeing him?” Tim’s grip got progressively tighter as each angry question passed, to the point where Rhys’ eyes began to sting with tears, a blinding pain traveling up his arm and throughout the rest of his body.

“Tim, let go.” Rhys whimpered, but Tim didn’t seem to hear, obvious by how he continued to throw out questions and accusations. Tim was going to break his wrist at this point, he was sure of it. “Tim, you’re hurting me, _please_.” He inwardly cursed the way his voice cracked as he pleaded the older man. But what he said seemed to finally click. Tim paused long enough to glance down at his hand around Rhys’ wrist, which then quickly pulled away as if he had just been burned. Rhys took the chance to cradle his wrist to his chest, taking a step back to keep a bit more distance between them. From between his metal fingers, he could see dark, nasty bruises already forming on his pale skin. The sight alone shook him to the core. Tim... _Tim_ did that to him. The same man that came to his rescue fuck knows how many times. The same man that made him feel like nothing could hurt him while he was around. The-

“Rhys? Kiddo, look at me, please.” The feeling of thumbs brushing against his wet cheeks shocked him out of his thoughts, head jerking away as he took another step back. To his surprise, Tim didn’t follow. His hands just came up to rub at the sides of his own face. “I’m sorry...okay? You...y-you’re the last person I’d ever want to hurt, I just...why him? Why?” The last part was whispered out so softly Rhys barely even caught it. And he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, flesh hand coming up to hastily wipe away the tears that had spilled down his cheeks.

“I liked you, Tim. Like. Or...I don’t know, okay? The-The point is, that kiss actually meant something to me. Then you...then you start ignoring me and distancing yourself from me and _that_ hurt enough on its own. But then you...you sent that text and...I felt really fucking stupid, Tim. I was stupid for thinking that maybe, _maybe_ there could have been a chance and it _hurt_ knowing it meant absolutely nothing to you and Jack just...he was there, okay? I didn’t care if it was all just sex, he was there for me when you weren’t. I-”

“Hey, we just got Stallion’s order and they specifically want Rhys’...blueberry frap or some shit? Am I...uh...interrupting something?” Maya glanced between the two men with arched brows. Tim looked a mix of pissed and grateful for the interruption, while a smile slowly crept up on Rhys’ lips. He knew Jack liked the drinks but...enough to make everyone else try them? He couldn’t help but actually feel _proud_ of himself.

Rhys didn’t even spare Tim a glance as he turned to head out of the kitchen. He had drinks to make.

***

“Ya know, I was really skeptical when Jack said we all had to try these but this is _great_. How in the world do you make it taste so much like a blueberry muffin?” Janey’s eyes were wide as she continued to sip at her drink, her approval making Rhys start to blush in embarrassment.

“Just, uh...the right spices, I guess. The cinnamon and nutmeg really help.” From behind the counter, Janey nodded feverishly in agreement, her free hand pointing toward the back of the shop. “Boss is back in his office. Thanks for the coffee.” With a grin, she waved him off. And he wasted no time to grab the last drink and brownie before heading off to the back of the building where Jack’s office resides. Up close, it looked more like a large storage closet but hey, it could technically work as an office. However, Jack was nowhere in sight.

Inside sat a rather small wooden desk, which he set the drink and brownie down onto. On top of said desk sat a sleek desktop, a modern looking lamp and a couple framed pictures facing outwards, allowing Rhys to actually look at them. The smaller one was of what Rhys could only assume was the first opening of the shop, Jack and the whole team facing the camera in front of the shop with excited grins. Jack looked a lot more like Tim without the grey streak in his hair, he noted. 

The last picture was of a raven haired girl. Her eyes were piercing blue, her lips pulled into a wide smile as she gave a peace sign to the camera. It didn’t take long at all to figure out that she was Angel. Most likely a couple years younger in the picture but still, it was clear. And he found himself almost starting to smile at how happy she looked. Maybe Jack was telling the truth when he said he was completely different around her.

“Lookin’ at my Angel, kitten?” Rhys bit back a surprised yelp as arms came around his waist, pulling him back into a familiar broad chest. He reached back with his flesh hand to awkwardly slap at the other man’s shoulder, letting out a loud whine. “You’re lucky I put your drink down or else it would be all over the floor by now.” He waited for a reply but it never came. Instead, thick fingers wrapped around his own in surprising gentleness, holding his hand in place against his shoulder. Rhys’ brows furrowed as he glanced over his own shoulder, only to be met with Jack staring down at his discolored wrist. There was something in his eyes that Rhys was only able to catch for a brief second before Jack realized he was looking at him. Then it was gone, hidden skillfully and leaving his eyes completely unreadable. Was that anger he had seen?

“What happened?” Jack nodded towards his wrist, but refused to let go of his hand. His other arm stayed wrapped tight around his waist, almost possessively. This was a totally new side of Jack. But...not exactly an unpleasant one.

“Tim.” Rhys mumbled under his breath, eyes flickering away, feeling too shy to look at the man behind him. “I guess he...I dunno...if... _you_ didn’t tell him then I think...when he called yesterday, I may have...accidentally answered the call instead.” It was his fault Tim found out, he was sure of it. There was no way Jack would have told him something like that. He really doubted Vaughn or the girls would have told him either. Why the hell did he always have to fuck up so bad? 

Behind him, Jack just nodded and finally let Rhys’ hand drop back to his side, moving around him to prop himself up against the edge of the desk. “So my little brother isn’t as innocent as I thought, huh? Leaving bruises on his best friend like that.”

Despite what had just happened, Rhys couldn’t help but jump at the chance to defend Tim, frantically shaking his head. “No, no, no, he...I know he didn’t really mean it. He was just really pissed and he wasn’t paying attention.” God, now he sounded like one of those people in an abusive relationship that try desperately to deny that their partner really is abusive. But he was at least 90% positive what he was saying was true. If anything, the man in front of him was the truly abusive one. Yet what they did yesterday...ugh, what the hell was going on in his life right now?

Jack was silent for a while and it started to get a little unnerving. He just kept switching from staring at Rhys and staring off at the wall. The whole time, he looked like he was having some weird internal conflict with himself. Dark brows were furrowed as Jack occasionally shook his head. It continued like this for a couple minutes before Jack finally spoke up just as Rhys was about to ask if he should leave.

“Kid...I...shit, I’m bad at this shit but...if you need a place to chill or just think...my place is open to you for the week, alright? Shit, maybe I can make dinner for ya or somethin’. What kind of food do you like? I can....” It was at that point that Jack seemed to stop himself, his lips pursed as he glared at the floor. Meanwhile, Rhys...well, Rhys was practically floored. Who the hell was this person? Because it seemed like the exact opposite of the Jack he knew. And it seemed like even Jack himself was wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Seeing the tattoo artist so flustered was...so, so unusual. But at the same time, it...honestly made Rhys’ heart race. Fuck, he was screwed.

With a wave of his hand, Jack gestured for Rhys to leave with a grumble. “Just get back to work, twink.” The corners of Rhys’ lips twitched up into an amused smile. Oh, he wasn’t just gonna let Jack end it here.

As Jack stood and straightened himself up, Rhys stepped up to him instead of turning to leave. Jack seemed to be about to protest but he was silenced by Rhys’ lips slanting over his own in a chaste kiss, metal and flesh hands fisted into the bottom of his shirt. 

“Mm...” Rhys let out a soft sound as he pulled away, just enough to look Jack straight in the eye with a...rather shy smile. “I like anything with pasta. Tomorrow...pick me up after work?”

***

Seeing the kid so bold and not afraid of him in the least bit...instead of pissing him off, it only made Jack release a small sigh. He wasn’t pissed that the kid wasn’t afraid of him, he wasn’t pissed that the kid flustered the hell out of him. He...well, shit, he didn’t really know what he was feeling right now. But there wasn’t any anger. There wasn’t an urge to wrap his hands around that pretty throat. Instead, there was....

Before he could stop himself, one of Jack’s hands lifted to Rhys’ hair, taking a strand and smoothing it back with the rest of the gelled locks. God, he felt stupid as fuck doing this. But it was like his body was in autopilot, saying and doing shit without even thinking about it. “How about...tonight. I’ll pick you up from your place and I’ll take you out somewhere nice. Show ya off.”

Was that pride he felt when the kid’s face lit up with excitement? Ugh, what the hell was wrong with him? He went from finding Rhys annoying as shit to actually _wanting_ to take him out. And this morning, his first reaction before he left was to kiss the stupid kid goodbye. It was a good thing he stopped himself before embarrassing himself like that. Still, actually staying with Rhys and sleeping next to him was probably embarrassing enough. And now here he was, asking to take him out to a fancy restaurant and...showing him off.

Since when did Rhys become _his_ to show off, anyway? When the shit did that happen? Since when did he actually want to show him off? This naive, lanky kid...Jack really wanted to show him off. Walk into the restaurant with his arm around his waist, possessively holding his waist. Did he...fuck, did he _like_ this kid? Shit, he’d deal with it later. Right now, he wanted to know how it felt to just...go with it.

“Maybe one of those really fancy restaurants. Could pick you up in a limo, make you feel like a goddamn king.” Jack couldn’t help but smirk when Rhys’ cheeks visibly reddened in response. The younger stammered, clearly trying to come up with some sort of reply but failing miserably. Not giving him the chance to actually reply, Jack instead leaned in to capture Rhys’ lips in a chaste kiss similar to their previous one.

“I’ll pick you up tonight at 7. Wear something nice, kitten.”

***

At 7, Rhys stood in the middle of his living room, anxiously bouncing on his feet.

At 7:10, Rhys stood in front of his couch to watch out the window, occasionally grabbing his phone from his pocket to check for any texts.

At 7:30, Rhys had unbuttoned his dress shirt and sunk down into the couch, phone left beside him on his messages with Jack.

At 7:50, Rhys typed out one last text to Jack with shaky thumbs before tossing it aside, pulling one of the throw pillows to his chest to bury his tear stained face into it.

**Rhys** >> _hey, just making sure we’re on for tonight_ >> **Sent at 7:15pm**

**Rhys** >> _did something come up? just text back and let me know so we can reschedule or something_ >> **Sent at 7:29pm**

**Rhys** >> _Jack?_ >> **Sent at 7:47pm**

**Rhys** >> _i get it...goodnight, Jack_ >> **Sent at 7:50pm**


	10. Ice Cream and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn that Rhys is terribly indecisive and can't figure out his feelings for the life of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean.
> 
> The summary says it all.

It was an hour after when Jack was supposed to pick him up that Rhys had begun to give up all hope. Shirt unbuttoned, pants off, tub of ice cream in hand, he made his way out of the kitchen to plop himself back down on the couch. Unfocused eyes stared down at the ice cream in his lap while he struggled to come to terms with what had happened. Jack...Jack stood him up. No text, no call, no nothing. Just...nothing. He had seemed really into the idea of taking him out, showing him off but...then he just doesn’t show up.

Sniffling, Rhys finally dug his spoon into the ice cream while his flesh hand reached up to rub at his eyes. Stupid. It was so stupid. He was stupid for thinking that maybe, just _maybe_ Jack possibly liked him too. But of course he wouldn’t. Jack hated him from the very start. A few nice moments together wouldn’t have changed that. God, he was so stupid.

The sound of the doorbell nearly had Rhys jumping off of the couch. Well...okay, not even nearly. He did jump off the couch. Ice cream and spoon abandoned, he rushed over to rip open the door without a single care about how desperate he’ll probably look in front of Jack.

Except...the person in front of him wasn’t Jack.

The person in front of him was the last person he wanted to see right now.

Even so, Rhys felt himself quickly reverting back to his needy, emotional state. His hand dropped from the doorknob to awkwardly toy with his fingers, feeling no shame for asking the one question that haunted his thoughts for the past hour.

“W-Where, um...where’s...Jack?” Solemnly, Rhys’ eyes flickered up to stare at the man in front of him expectantly. He didn’t care how stupid he probably looked and sounded. He didn’t care that he was probably acting like a dog whose owner suddenly left them. 

Because Tim wouldn’t judge him. Despite the shit they’ve been through the past few days, he knew Tim wouldn’t judge him for looking and sounding so... _pathetic_. And he was right. Because the look of surprise that had been on Tim’s face quickly changed to one of anger as soon as the words left his mouth. 

“Jack? What did he do to you this time? God, I swear, Rhys, I’ll fucking kick his ass for whatever the hell he did to you.” The younger forced a smile, stepping aside to silently let Tim inside. No, he didn’t forget what Tim did to him earlier. He could never forget that. But right now...Tim was here. Acting like his best friend again. And he really, _really_ needed that right now. 

“He was supposed to take me out to dinner tonight. But he’s an hour late so...I don’t think he’s coming.” A bitter chuckle left his lips as he closed the door. Brushing past Timothy, Rhys made his way back to the couch and curled himself up in the corner, reaching down to gather up his ice cream again. “Guess he stood me up, huh?” Grumbling, Rhys began shoveling the ice cream into his mouth, not even bothering to look at Timothy as he awkwardly moved to sit down beside him.

There was a long silence between them. For a moment, Rhys was starting to think he made Timothy uncomfortable by mentioning that they had planned to go on a...’date’. But as soon as he glanced towards him, Timothy spoke up with an almost...apologetic look. “He, um...last I heard, he was...he was at the bar with Nisha. I’m...I-I’m sorry, Rhys. I called earlier because I wanted to talk to him about the two of you but he said he was busy with Nish and...seemed like he didn’t want to be bothered.” 

Every word, every mention of Jack with Nisha was just another sharp jab in his chest. He...He couldn’t compete with Nisha, could he? From what he had heard before meeting Jack, he would jump at any chance to be with her, to even get back together with her. Even now...things haven’t changed. Even after Rhys thought there could maybe be something, no matter how little, _something_ between them...he just couldn’t compete with her. All Rhys could do was nod numbly, blurred vision glued to the melting ice cream in his spoon. 

***

Timothy didn’t know what else to say. Fuck, he should’ve just lied so he didn’t have to break the kid’s heart. This was new. Timothy knew how to handle Rhys when Jack did something physical to him or scared him. He didn’t know how to handle Rhys when he was clearly...heartbroken. The selfish side of him was pissed. Pissed that Rhys was getting heartbroken over his older brother. Why him? What the hell did Rhys see in that asshole? Clearly, he shouldn’t have been naive enough to fall for whatever tricks Jack had been playing on him.

But that’s the thing. Rhys is...has always been more naive than most. Instead of getting pissed that he likes his brother enough to get heartbroken over something like this, he...he needs to realize that he needs to be there for his best friend. Rhys needs his best friend now more than ever. No matter how much it may hurt, Timothy needed to be there for Rhys and comfort him. Even though he really did come to talk about what happened at the coffee shop and officially apologize for everything. That was probably the last thing Rhys needed right now.

“Hey...I...fuck, he’s an asshole, kid. I know you know that. I know he probably sucked you in by being all uncharacteristically sweet but...come on, then he keeps doing shit like this to hurt you.” Timothy dared to lift his hand and cup Rhys’ cheek in his palm, trying to pull him out of whatever headspace he had put himself in. It took a moment of coaxing and urging Rhys to turn his head but eventually, the younger complied and turned to face Timothy with the most...heartbroken smile that made his own heart ache just by looking at it.

“It sucks...y’know? At first, I...I liked you but then you just...ignored me and said the kiss meant nothing to you. Then Jack, he...he was such an asshole at first but then yesterday was so nice and he was so sweet today and...and I think the Lawrence brothers are bad luck for me.” Though Rhys laughed, it was clear to Timothy that it was completely forced, that he was just trying to cover up his pain with whatever humor he could manage. And even though Timothy really wanted to help and distract Rhys with the humor, there was just...no way he could listen to what he said without finally explaining his side. And finally telling him the truth.

“I like you, Rhys.” The confession was whispered so quiet that Timothy was sure Rhys may not have even heard. But he continued on anyway, all the while brushing a calloused thumb over Rhys’ tear stained cheek. “I really do. When I sent you the text, when I was acting the way I did before...it was because I just really... _really_ didn’t want to ruin our friendship. But really have no idea how much that kiss meant to me. How much _you_ mean to me. Not just as a friend, not just as my _best_ friend. Hell, I...I’m not even sure if I just like you. I...I got so jealous when you started hanging out with Jack for real, I got so pissed when I heard you with him yesterday. Not just because you were fucking my brother but because...because, fuck, Rhys, I wanted to be in his goddamn place. I really wanted to be there, being the one to make you say those things and make those sounds. And it _sucks_ , kid. It really sucks knowing that you really like him a lot, that you’re this heartbroken over him when I would never do any of this shit to you if I were in his place. I’d take you out on the best goddamn date you’ve ever been on. Maybe not somewhere as fancy as he was probably gonna take you but...b-but I’d take you out and we could get frozen yogurt together afterwards, and I could get you a huge cup of your favorite cake batter frozen yogurt with the crumbled up pieces of cake on the top like I know you love and-”

Upon hearing his own voice crack, Timothy reluctantly shut his mouth before he could get any more emotional. There was one last thing on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He...He needed to think about it more before he said something like _that_. He didn’t want to say it if he wasn’t 100% positive that it was true. So...he just left it there. And left himself to think about how unbelievably sappy he had just been. Where the hell did all of that come from? He had just meant to explain himself, not...not do all of _that_.

And Rhys...god, the poor kid looked so stunned. Hell, Timothy would be stunned if he were in Rhys’ position too. Hearing all of that shit after being told previously that the person you kind of liked basically didn’t like you back. Even though it was a lie. God, Timothy was starting to confuse himself with all of this. 

“-im?” Timothy focused back on Rhys’ face with an awkward ‘huh?’, not having actually heard what Rhys had actually said.

This time, Rhys gave a...much more genuine chuckle. And that sound alone made Timothy’s nerves calm just a bit. “I _said_ , I wanna do something to just...figure some things out myself. Don’t freak out or anything, okay?” All Timothy could do was nod dumbly, having no idea what the hell this kid was planning.

But he didn’t have to think about it for too long. As soon as Rhys placed his hands on his knees and began to lean forward, Timothy knew exactly what he was going to do. And damnit, he didn’t have enough self control to let Rhys do this on his own. Not when this is what Timothy had wanted ever since their last kiss.

Before Rhys had the chance to close the distance between them, Timothy cupped his cheeks with large hands and pulled him forward. The squeak of surprise that left Rhys’ lips was just barely muffled by Timothy’s lips sealing over his own. There was a small pause on Rhys’ part, seemingly shocked by Timothy’s sudden advancement. But before they both knew it, they were both kissing hungrily. Anything that was left unsaid was poured into the kiss, which quickly increased in passion as the seconds went on. This. This is what Timothy wanted from the very beginning. To have Rhys locked in his arms as they kissed, both of them just desperately grabbing onto each other like they would suddenly disappear. To hear the tiniest little moans from Rhys as their tongues explored one another. To impatiently grab Rhys’ hips and pull him onto his lap so he could press him against his chest and close absolutely any distance between them. God, this was better than any late night fantasy.

Even when they both parted for air, it didn’t stay that way for long. But this time, Rhys took the lead like he had planned to from the beginning, his metal hand cupping the side of Timothy’s neck while the other fisted into his hair. Having Rhys mildly dominant like that was...sort of a turn on. And despite the fact that they had just gone back into their kiss, Timothy knew they had to stop before things went to far. Or at least...before Timothy really lost all control of himself. 

“Mmph, ss. Yss. _Rhys_.” It took everything in his power to tear himself away from Rhys’ lips. At least long enough to actually _speak_. But god, it was so hard to even think about what he was going to say when Rhys looked so... _so_. With his reddened lips and that completely dazed look...fuck, he was screwed.

“W-We, um...shit, you’re hot.” Lifting his hand from Rhys’ hip, Timothy brushed back a strand of Rhys’ hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. What was he saying? Uh....“We...should, uh...right, we should probably stop before things go to far. You...I know you like Jack, okay? I hate saying it but I know you do. Just, um...I want you to know that I...I, um...” Was he really gonna say it? It was risky saying it so quickly but...honestly, Timothy had never felt more sure of anything in his life. And he just...needed Rhys to hear it.

Taking a deep breath, Timothy leaned in to press one last peck to Rhys’ lips before he murmured against the damp borders.

“I love you, Rhys.”


	11. Torn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Hi. Yeah, I probably should've updated this sooner, especially since the next chapter(s) won't be updated for a while since they're a lot longer. But for now, enjoy this little update and I promise to get the next ones out as soon as possible <3

Two weeks. It had been two weeks ever since Tim’s...confession. Two weeks since Rhys last saw Jack. Well, he...he saw him through the window at Stallion but they never spoke. Jack never approached him and never responded to Rhys’ texts or calls. So, Rhys just...gave up. What else was he supposed to do? It wasn’t like he and Jack were an item or anything. They just had a couple real dates and a couple fake ones. Vaughn and the girls, however, were more than happy to try to kick his ass. Sasha wanted to pretend to be some huge critic and give Stallion a shitty review. Fiona wanted to completely trash the outside of the building with graffiti and toilet paper as if she was in friggin’ middle school. Vaughn...well, Vaughn simply wanted to go over there and kick his ass. 

But Rhys just...thought it was fate. He thought it was fate that Tim came to his place without knowing that Rhys had just been stood up by Jack. He thought it was fate that Timothy confessed to him and Jack just...was nowhere to be seen anymore. 

And Tim had just...been so sweet the past couple weeks. He understood that Rhys was still trying to figure out his own feelings. Rhys...really knew that he liked Timothy. But he also...really knew he had a big crush on Jack. Once the first week passed, that was when Rhys started to just...give up on Jack. He settled things with the thought that all he had was a crush for the guy. And what he could have with Timothy could be...so much more than that. 

So, the past week was...really, really nice. At first, Timothy seemed kind of freaked out by the fact that Rhys was getting...closer to him. It started off simple, as if they were two high school students that just found out they have a crush for each other. Rhys would find any excuse to ‘accidentally’ brush against Timothy. Whether it be brushing their shoulders together or ‘accidentally’ touching Timothy’s hand with his own, silly little shit like that. He was positive Timothy thought he was crazy at that point.

But then a few days ago, Timothy had come over for movie night with the girls. He and Timothy had taken the couch while Sasha and Fiona rolled out a thick blanket on the floor and watched the movie from there. And oh, _of course_ Rhys took advantage of this situation. Thinking back at it, it was so stupid. It was like a silly little high school rom-com. Rhys tried a few times to ‘accidentally’ catch Timothy’s hand in their popcorn bowl. Halfway through the movie, that’s when Rhys started to get more bold. Merely resting his head on his shoulder, occasionally glancing up at him with a shy smile. To which Timothy returned, seemingly surprised by all of Rhys’ subtle advances.

And then they just...kissed. It was soft, gentle. It was a kiss that said, ‘Let’s try this now’. And they did. With the, ah...encouragement from the girls when they caught them. Which totally wasn’t awkward as fuck at all. Nah, not at all.

Okay, yeah, it was totally awkward.

Now, their relationship had definitely progressed over the past few days. They didn’t even have to say to each other, ‘Yeah, let’s try this and see how it goes’. That kiss said it all on its own. From that point, they just...went with the flow, did whatever felt right. Even though it was nothing serious, even though they weren’t an ‘item’, it was still nice to be with Timothy like that. It was nice to casually kiss each other as Timothy was walking by the counter to set out a new batch of baked goods. And Rhys just really felt...happy. Especially after Tim finally asked him out on a real date.

Which...brought them to now. Sitting in Timothy’s car, on their way to their favorite frozen yogurt place. One of Timothy’s hands was on the steering wheel while the other was laced together with Rhys’ flesh hand, occasionally bringing it up to press small pecks to Rhys’ knuckles.

“So, still think you’re too full for frozen yogurt?” Timothy teased, to which Rhys just groaned in response. His metal hand rubbed at his stomach with a dramatic pout.

“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into getting the double cheeseburger. I feel like my stomach is gonna burst.”

“We should’ve just skipped the restaurant and offered to give you some _sausage_ instead.”

“But I still got the sausage. Under the table.”

Rhys couldn’t help but grin at the visible blush on Timothy’s cheeks at the mention of what they did during dinner. The food was...well, taking a while to come out. And Timothy was being a bit of an asshole and teasing the shit out of Rhys so...he thought it was best to shut him up with a little fun under the table. It was probably one of the biggest adrenaline rushes Rhys had ever gotten. Even though they had gotten a private booth towards the back and no one else was really around, who knew when the waitress could have come back? Thankfully, Timothy...heh, _came_ before she came back with the food. 

“You tasted good.” Rhys let out a pleased hum as he leaned in to give Timothy a quick peck on his reddened cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Timothy’s hand tightening on the wheel. But other than that, there was no response from the elder. With a huff of disappointment, Rhys settled back into his seat while muttering that he ‘was no fun’. 

Only a few minutes passed before they arrived at the frozen yogurt shop, having been in complete silence the entire time. Now, Rhys was starting to worry that he somehow said something wrong. Maybe he made him uncomfortable by bringing up what they did at the restaurant? They both didn’t really mind back there but...maybe Timothy was regretting it or something? Ugh, if only Tim would actually _say_ somethi-

“Rhys.”

That...that was a tone of voice Rhys had _never_ heard before. It was similar to when he was pissed at him at the coffee shop but...not pissed. Just...firm. Strict. Surprised, all Rhys could respond with was an awkward squeak of ‘yes?’ as he stared at Timothy hesitantly. But Timothy wasn’t looking at him until he tugged him closer with their laced hands, pulling Rhys into him.

“When we get back to your place...” Leaning in, Timothy nudged his nose against the shell of Rhys’ ear before placing a light nip to the skin. “...I refuse to let you leave the bed. You _won’t_ leave the bed. That’s a promise.” Timothy’s voice was more than enough to give Rhys goosebumps. But all he could do was stare at him in shock as he pulled away, mouth partially hanging open. This was...still Timothy, right? His best friend? The guy that’s usually all sweet and shy and charming? When in the...how in the...where the hell did this come from? How the...whoa.

“R-Rhys? Hey, look, I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything, I just-”

“I’m way more turned on than I should be.”

“You...huh?”

***

“So, Jack’s birthday is next week. I don’t really know what to do since he gets everything for himself anyway. Could always just kick his ass for everything that’s happened this past month but y’know, probably not the best 40th birthday pres...Rhys?”

They had just finished up with their frozen yogurt and had been heading back to Timothy’s car. They _had_ been having a casual conversation about...what was it, college days? There had been a slightly awkward pause after Rhys mentioned experimenting with guys throughout most of his college days. Then of course...of course Timothy had to bring _him_ up. 

If Rhys were being honest, he still wasn’t completely over Jack. Sure, he gave up on going after him and pretty much gave up on all hope of ever being with him. But that didn’t mean he was over him. No, he still thought about Jack at night. He still found himself daydreaming at work sometimes, his mind occasionally wandering off and wondering what Jack was doing. It got worse when Alice had called recently and asked how they were. Caught off guard, Rhys had stammered out a reply that he and Jack were doing great. Admittedly, that was stupid on him. That was probably a rare chance to actually come out and tell the truth, that he and Jack were never truly ‘together’.

And if Rhys were being honest, he did feel bad that he still wasn’t over Jack. He and Timothy were doing really well this past week, getting much closer than they have before. But he still just...couldn’t get Jack out of his goddamn head. Couldn’t stop thinking about that time he woke up to Jack next to him. Couldn’t stop thinking about how...almost protective Jack had become when everything happened with Timothy at the coffee shop. It seemed like Jack was so close to just...starting to like him instead of hating him. What the hell changed? Why did he suddenly go back to Nisha? Why the _fuck_ wasn’t he good enough?

“Rhys, _Rhys_.” As Timothy shook his shoulders, Rhys blinked slowly, sending an unshed tear rolling down his cheek. While Rhys was busy processing why the hell he was suddenly crying, Timothy was busy just...staring at him. As if to figure out the same thing. Though, he seemed to dawn on him quicker than Rhys could figure it out himself. Letting out a slow sigh, Timothy raised his hand to brush the back of his fingertips over Rhys’ damp cheek, offering the younger a small smile. “I won’t talk about him anymore. I’m sorry. I know you’re still dealing with a lot of shit and...Rhys, do you wanna just take this a bit slower? This...stuff between us.”

Frantically, Rhys shook his head and batted Timothy’s hands away with a frustrated groan. “No, no, it’s fine, I just...shit, I don’t know. There’s a lot of shit that hasn’t been explained, y’know? He...He hasn’t talked about any of it, has he?”

Timothy just shook his head. “I wish I could tell you that he has. Even when I’m babysitting Angel, he never talks to me about...anything, really. And Angel’s been told to keep whatever’s going on with him under lock and key. I don’t know what’s going on right now.”

That definitely wasn’t the answer Rhys wanted to hear. He wanted _some_ kind of closure. But it didn’t seem like he was going to be getting that any time soon. After that, Rhys just wanted to end the whole conversation. But instead of actually _saying_ that he wanted to, he waved a hand dismissively and began to continue their walk back to the car, not fully trusting his voice enough to say anything. Thankfully, Timothy quickly got the hint and followed behind him, occasionally reaching out to rub his lower back as if to comfort him. Rhys really couldn’t understand how...awkward all of this must be for him too. To have the guy he’s sort of dating still thinking about and liking his older brother. God, he felt so bad. If he could change his feelings, he definitely would in a heartbeat. But the question is...would he change his feelings to only like Jack...or only like Timothy? Fuck.

“Well, would’ya look at this.”

The deep voice startled Rhys out of his thoughts, sending him stepping back into Timothy’s chest in surprise. Before he could even realize where the voice came from and _who_ the owner of that voice was, one of Timothy’s hands gripped his side possessively. Once the initial shock wore off, Rhys was able to focus in on the parking spot beside Timothy’s car. A parking spot that was taken up by a...very familiar motorcycle. 

Swallowing thickly, Rhys stood rigid as he watched Jack stub out his cigarette with the heel of his boot before he made his way over to the duo. Unable to get any words out, Rhys just stared, part of him wanting to stick back with Timothy and another part of him wanting to stalk over to Jack and ask him what the hell was going on. But right now, he felt completely frozen in place. Lucky for him, Timothy spoke for both of them.

“What the hell are you doing here, Jack?”

Jack simply shrugged, seeming to pay little attention to his brother and _much_ more attention to Rhys. God, Rhys’ skin would be burning with how intense Jack’s stare was. Even as Jack began to respond to Timothy, he still didn’t look at him. “I thought I’d talk to my little brother about some things. Am I _interrupting_ something?” As the words were ground out, the look on Jack’s face quickly shifted. He was pissed. Definitely pissed. But Rhys didn’t have it in him to cower anymore. He was pissed too. He had _every_ goddamn right to be pissed at this asshole.

“Shouldn’t you be out having fun with Nisha?” Well, if Jack didn’t think he was jealous, he sure as hell would now. Could he sound _any_ more jealous than that? Ugh, he couldn’t help himself though. The fact that Jack stood him up to be with Nisha just...god, that pissed him off. 

Jack’s response just pissed him off even more.

Thick eyebrows raised, Jack stared at Rhys as if he was friggin’ crazy. “Uh...sorry, what? _Nisha_? Why the hell are you bringing her up?”

And oh, Rhys was not gonna take any of his shit.

“You were _with_ her the night you fucking stood me up.” As if Jack finally understood, a look of realization appeared on his face. Though he looked more...amused than anything. God, Rhys just wanted to punch this shithead in his handsome goddamn face.

“Rhysie. Cupcake. I’d love to talk to you about all of that. But how about when we’re, oh, I don’t know... _not_ in a friggin’ public parking lot in front of my brother? Which by the way, what the shit is going on with this?” Jack gestured to the two of them, his features twisting into a look of disgust. Rhys glanced back at Timothy, contemplating the question. What _was_ going on between them? Yeah, they...just went out on their first real date. They’ve kissed a bunch and were slowly getting more sexual with each other. But what would someone call them? Friends with benefits? People who were casually dating? 

Right before he was about to answer, Timothy finally spoke up again, gently pushing Rhys forward towards Jack. “You two talk. Jack, I’ll pick up Angel and meet you back at your place. Where we’re gonna talk. Where we’re gonna have a _long_ talk.” There was a look on Timothy’s face that Rhys just...couldn’t really pinpoint. It wasn’t like he was given the chance to look more than a fraction of a second before Timothy was leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, coupled with a murmur so soft only the two of them could hear. “Take your time. And let me know if he does anything to you.” 

Timothy didn’t even give Rhys a chance to respond before he was already making his way over to his car. Uh uh, he wasn’t about to let him do that.

“W-Wait, Ti-” Rhys was cut off mid-sentence by a hand closing around his wrist. He turned his attention away from Timothy to look at Jack, who had grabbed his wrist and was impatiently tugging him towards his bike. Was this how it really felt to be stuck in the middle? In a friggin’ love triangle? This sucked. This sucked so much. A part of him wanted to tear himself away from Jack and follow after Timothy, to go after him and get rid of his past with Jack. But another part of him...just wanted to follow after Jack, to do whatever he wanted and wrap his arms around him as he sat on the back of his bike.

Rhys...Rhys was completely torn.


End file.
